Family says witnesses stole from man who died after getting pinned by a car

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Phoenix family is mourning the loss of their dad, who died in a freak accident Monday after he was pinned under his car when it fell on top of him.

Instead of helping, police say some people who saw what happened stole from him and took off.

Jeronimo Garcia Guerra was driving his wife to work Monday morning when her car broke down in a parking lot near 23rd Avenue and Thomas Road.

After they were picked up, he drove his daughter’s car back to make repairs to the broken-down car.

“He brought a certain sense of comfort,” said Jerry Garcia Jr., who now only has memories of his father.

Police believe the jack holding the car up collapsed, causing the car to crash down on top of him.

“He always believed nobody out there is going to help you. In this situation, he was right,” Jerry said.

His daughter, Monica Garcia, believes her dad may have been there for hours.

She thinks he got to the parking lot to start work on the car around 9:45 in the morning. Police were called around noon.

“Who knows when the car really fell on him,” Monica said. “Who knows how long he’s been under there.”

It all happened less than two miles away from where she lives.

“After everything, they went through my dad’s pockets and my mom’s car and they saw them leave with my car.”

She says that finding out witnesses stole from her dad instead of stepping in to help adds insult to injury.

“It’s hard because I would never do that to somebody. I could care less about my car but at least they could have stayed there with him until help came,” Monica said tearfully. “At least I would’ve known he wasn’t by himself all day until somebody decided to say oh my god he’s not moving.”

Her car was found the next day abandoned not too far from the scene, but she says she doesn’t care about that.

“That’s somebody’s dad, somebody’s husband, a grandparent, somebody’s best friend. He’s my person. And I don’t have that anymore because somebody couldn’t stop and check,” she said.

Police haven’t made any arrests but say there are surveillance cameras in the area they’re looking at.

If you want to help the family, you can donate to their GoFundMe.

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