Parents mourn son killed by suspected drunk driver in Alameda crash
Alameda parents lose their only child when suspected drunk driver runs stop sign
Nickolas Bianchi worked at the local golf course in Alameda and would stop by his parents home for lunch and to say hi. The 27-year-old was struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver who blew through a stop sign. His parents, Les and Evie are absolutely devastated to have lost their only child. KTVU FOX 2's Henry Lee reports.
ALAMEDA, Calif. - Nickolas Bianchi, 27, worked at the local golf course in Alameda and came back home for lunch and to say hi to his parents.
"We don’t get that no more. It’s gone from our lives .It’s killing us. My heart is empty," Les Bianchi said through tears Wednesday.
Les and Evie Bianchi's only child was killed when he was hit by a suspected drunk driver who ran a stop sign in Alameda.
"Total disregard. Total disregard for anybody and everybody around. And my son had to lose his life," Les Bianchi said.
A steady stream of friends and neighbors stopped by their home with flowers and condolences, comfort in the short term
"But when they leave, it’s just us, in an empty house," Evie Bianchi said.
Among the well wishers was Alameda Police Chief Nishant Joshi.
"We’re still trying to connect the dots on what led up to this," Joshi said.
The crash happened at about 8 p.m. Monday at Fernside Boulevard and Cambridge Drive.
Alameda police say the driver of a Toyota Corolla blew a stop sign, broadsiding Bianchi's GMC pickup truck. The suspect, Jose Hernandez-Alfaro, 33, was arrested.
SEE ALSO: Video shows driver plowing through Alameda stop sign
KTVU has learned that police are investigating whether some kind of a dispute near High street in Oakland led to a chase into Alameda, ending in the crash.
Surveillance video shows the Toyota speeding through the stop sign into Bianchi's truck. After the crash, a Dodge can be seen closely tailing the Toyota but stopping.
"It’s terrible," Joshi said. "It definitely hits home. I’m a parent myself. It’s tragic."
The impact knocked the truck into Rex Smith’s home.
"You can hear them just shifting the gears. When they hit here, they’re hitting 90 to 100 mph right in front of my house," Smith said ."I’ve complained, and now that happens at least once or twice a week."
Alameda is trying to reduce and eliminate traffic deaths as part of its ‘Vision Zero’ strategy.
A map shows some of the "high-injury corridors" in Alameda. Fernside Boulevard is among them.
As for the suspect, "He needs to be punished," Les Bianchi said.
His wife added, "He needs to be in jail for life."