OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) - The family of a 31-year-old Oceanside man is pleading for answers after he was struck and killed in a possible hit-and-run crash while riding his e-bike.
Christian Fa'amaligi was riding in an e-bike lane on Mission Avenue near Fireside just before 8 p.m. two Tuesdays ago when surveillance video captured the collision. His wife, Raea, said he had been riding near the beach and was on his way home.
According to Raea, multiple witnesses described what happened.
"He was just riding… a car hit him from the back. He lost his balance and tried to regain control, but by then he was in the lane for the oncoming traffic, and they hit him," Raea said.
Fa'amaligi, who was not wearing a helmet, was rushed to a hospital with a head injury. He died hours later.
The incident remains under investigation. Police say the driver of the car recorded hitting him may have been driving under the influence, but that has not been confirmed. Investigators say multiple witnesses reported Fa'amaligi was initially struck from behind by a separate vehicle, but there is no description of that vehicle.
Raea said she believes the driver who fled knew what they had done.
"I think there is a special place in hell for them. They know they did wrong. They should have stopped, but they took off," Raea said.
Family members describe Fa'amaligi, an operations manager at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, as a family man who was always joyful.
"A smile that could make everybody smile and laugh. He loved to sing. He loved life," Raea said.
His mother, Victoria Silva, said the loss has been devastating.
"Shattered. I don't even know how to go on the next day. How to breathe. You can't imagine," Silva said.
Tuesday would have been Fa'amaligi's 32nd birthday. Instead, loved ones gathered at a roadside memorial in his honor.
"I'm not here. I'm empty, waiting for him. The pain is unbearable," Raea said.
Silva is urging anyone with information to come forward.
"Please bring it forward. I want justice for my son. I want this not to happen to another family," Silva said.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help the family with funeral and other expenses.
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