SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Highway Patrol continues to investigate an accident involving an on-duty Sacramento police detective that left two people dead on Interstate 5 Tuesday morning.
The victims were identified by the county coroner's office as 33-year-old Juan Carlos Rodriguez and 32-year-old Lionel Rodriguez.
"I just want them to be remembered and that they were loved," said Jessica Romero, the wife of Juan Carlos Rodriguez.
For Romero, the past two days have felt like a nightmare losing her husband and her brother-in-law. The crash happened around 6:15 a.m. on southbound I-5 at the Sutterville Road on-ramp.
"I was told about 8:15 in the morning that he hadn't shown up for work," said Romero. "When his coworkers said 'Hey, is this them?' and they sent me the video from the news that morning, I knew."
CHP says a white Dodge pickup truck became disabled and pulled over on the right-hand shoulder. Then, another person arrived at the scene and parked a maroon Toyota SUV on the left shoulder of the on-ramp.
Both drivers were standing on the left side of the pickup truck when — for an unknown reason — an on-duty Sacramento Police Department detective driving an unmarked Ford Fusion on southbound I-5 rear-ended the truck, which hit both drivers. Upon arrival, CHP South Sacramento units were told one of the pedestrians died. The second was pronounced dead while being taken to the hospital.
"Carlos had got a call from his brother on the phone telling him that he needed help with his car — the white Dakota which was Lionel's truck. He sent him his location and went over there. He was helping him fill up gas and then he was struck by the oncoming car," said Romero. "I got to say goodbye to his body and they took it away in a body bag. His brother was already gone at the coroner so I didn't get to say goodbye to him but I got to say goodbye to Carlos and hug him and pray for him."
Romero describes Juan Carlos as kind, generous and gentle. She said he was a loving husband, dedicated union plumber and father of their two young kids ages 6 and 10.
"They're gonna miss their dad a lot because he would do everything with them. For my son, wrestling practice teaching him how to be a man. Giving him those lessons that only a father could give. For my daughter, he was the best, like a girl dad. He would play with her, he would dress up with her, he would do everything to make her happy. Always boosting her confidence," said Romero. "He was the best partner in the whole wide world."
Romero used similar words to describe Lionel and said the two brothers had a very close relationship.
"His brother was somebody who was also very caring and loving. He loved his daughter Lilly with all his heart," said Romero. "He was somebody who was goofy. He was very funny."
As Romero and her family hang on to precious memories and try to process what happened, they're asking for transparency and a thorough investigation from CHP.
"I want them to be remembered as two fathers and two men that were here on this earth to bring happiness and love because that's exactly what they did," said Romero.
Romero is also urging all drivers to be vigilant, especially when driving in the right lane on a freeway.
"Please slow down when you're in that right lane. I understand that in the middle lane or the far left lane, you're gonna go faster in those lanes, but in the right hand lane, you know that they're merging. You know that there's gonna be people on the right hand corner if there's car trouble. This could've been anybody. This could've been anybody's family," said Romero.
Two separate GoFundMe pages have been set up by family and Juan Carlos's coworkers to help with funeral expenses. You can make donations here.
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