Fatal hit-and-run accident is the second recent tragedy for a local family

SAN ANTONIO – The family of a man killed in a hit-and-run crash on San Antonio’s West Side earlier this month is grappling with the second tragedy in three months.

Samuel Arellano died three days after the August 30 accident on historic Old US Highway 90 near South San Joaquin Street.

As Arellano was crossing the street on his bicycle, he was struck by a vehicle that did not stop, according to San Antonio police.

Crime Stoppers released a photo of the vehicle, a pickup truck, on Tuesday in hopes of locating the driver.

“He was the only father I ever had,” John Alderete said of Arellano on Wednesday morning. “He was a good-hearted man, but he was also a tough guy, so old school. He was really old school.”

Although Arellano was technically his stepfather, Aldrete said he helped raise him.

Aldrete said the fact that the driver who hit him did not stop was particularly difficult to accept.

“I didn't even think about what he was doing,” Alderete said. “Really? You couldn't have stopped or at least called an ambulance?”

In fact, Aldrete’s entire family is devastated by Arellano’s loss.

Just two months before the fatal August 30 crash, Alderete's brother Roy was killed in another crash, also reported on KSAT 12 News.

Police said at the time that Roy Aldrete was an innocent bystander who was struck by an out-of-control car during a shootout, authorities said.

“The car went off the road and (Roy Alderete) was sitting in a ditch minding his business,” Aldrete said.

Both the June 18 accident and the one in which Arellano died are the subject of ongoing police investigations.

Anyone with information about either case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (210) 224-STOP (7867).

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