Hard-working family man never knew 58th birthday, died 2 days after hit-and-run crash

Dean Narciso and Jim Wilhelm, The Columbus Dispatch
·4 min read
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Carlos Alvarado, 58, was pronounced dead Wednesday, March 22, two days after he was struck about 11:10 p.m. March 20 by a hit-and-run pickup truck as he was trying to walk across Busch Boulevard on Columbus' North Side. Columbus police are asking for the public's help in locating the pickup truck and its driver.
Carlos Alvarado, 58, was pronounced dead Wednesday, March 22, two days after he was struck about 11:10 p.m. March 20 by a hit-and-run pickup truck as he was trying to walk across Busch Boulevard on Columbus' North Side. Columbus police are asking for the public's help in locating the pickup truck and its driver.

Carlos Alvarado was a proud father to five children and two stepchildren, ages 13 to 37, a hard worker and a man who enjoyed making others smile.

So Alvarado being gravely injured in Columbus by a hit-and-run pickup truck driver at 11:13 p.m. March 20 — less than an hour before his 58th birthday — was unimaginably tragic, a daughter said.

Alvarado was transported in life-threatening condition to OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, where he never regained consciousness. He was officially pronounced dead at 3:13 p.m. last Wednesday, a day after turning 58.

"My dad didn't deserve what he got. He was a people person. A hard-working man who was very protective of his family," said Priscilla Banks, 37, his oldest child, told The Dispatch. "He always made everybody happy, no matter where he was."

The Columbus police Accident Investigation Unit said Alvarado was westbound on foot, crossing Busch Boulevard, just south of Shapter Avenue and north of East Dublin-Granville Road, on the city's North Side when a pickup truck traveling northbound struck him and kept driving. Though police said in a news release Saturday announcing his death that the truck was lightly colored, Banks said police indicated the pickup had an extended cab and was gray or black.

There was no marked pedestrian crossing where the crash occurred, police said.

"It's the walk he took every day," said Banks, describing the quarter-mile trek from a Sheetz along East Dublin-Granville, where he'd buy food before returning to the home he shared with his two daughters and two step-daughters at the Northgate Apartment complex along Busch Boulevard.

"He's a true New Yorker," Banks said. "That's what he did. He liked to take his walks. That was the only thing he still had to remind him of New York."

Banks said her father had followed her and her family of five, including daughters 9, 11 and 15, to Columbus about five years ago, drawn to the slower pace. He worked two jobs, one on weekends at a discount retailer on Karl Road and the other at night doing custodial work for a cleaning company.

Police identified him in a news release as Carlos Alvarado Dones because his mother's last name Dones is part of his legal name and was probably on his license and other information, but family members say he went simply by Alvarado.

After he was struck by the hit-and-run driver, Banks said "doctors said his injuries were so bad that there was nothing they could do."

His death last Wednesday, announced Saturday by Columbus police in the news release, was the 21st traffic fatality in Columbus this year. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Accident Investigation Unit at (614) 645-4767. Those wishing to remain anonymous may contact Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-8477.

Map showing Busch Boulevard south of Shapter Avenue where Carlos Alvarado Dones, 57, was struck while crossing Busch by a pickup truck traveling northbound that did not stop.
Map showing Busch Boulevard south of Shapter Avenue where Carlos Alvarado Dones, 57, was struck while crossing Busch by a pickup truck traveling northbound that did not stop.

Jose Ramos, a cousin, told The Dispatch he grew up together with Alvarado in Yonkers, New York. Even when Ramos' family later moved away, Alvarado and his family members would come to visit and make them feel like they were back home.

Ramos said he started a GoFundMe page at the request of Banks and Alvarado's other children to help pay for the cost of bringing Alvarado back for a funeral in New York. Alvarado, he said, wished to be laid to rest beside his mother in New York.

"His children would like to grant him that wish," Ramos wrote on the GoFundMe page, saying 100% of donations would go toward the cost of his funeral expenses. "We are asking for help to make this come true."

As of 8:30 p.m. Sunday, the GoFundMe account, "Help us bring Carlos Alvarado home," had raised more than $9,800 toward the total $15,000 goal.

In the GoFundMe post, Ramos described Alvarado, a father to seven and a grandfather to 15, as "a kind soul" who was "funny, friendly, affectionate and loved by many."

Banks told The Dispatch her message to the driver of the pickup truck who sped away is simple: "I want them to know they killed my dad, a fan of salsa music, an avid newshound and proud of his Puerto Rican roots.

"He didn't deserve this."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso

@jwilhelm@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Man who died 2 days after hit by pickup identified by Columbus police