Relatives Frustrated as Police Continue Complex Investigation into Motorcyclist’s Hit-Run Death

More than six weeks after the death of a beloved local motorcyclist, friends and relatives of the victim are venting their frustration at the Pasadena Police Department as it pursues a complex investigation into the hit-and-run accident that took the life of the local father of three. There have been no arrests.

Gary Oscar “Daddy-O” Chavez, 60, was killed October 6 at approximately 11:43 p.m. at the intersection of Marengo Avenue and Washington Boulevard when his motorcycle was hit by a speeding, stolen Tesla four-door sedan.

It is the fact that the car that killed Chavez was a Tesla that has rankled so many who loved him, and partly given rise to their anger and accusations of a police cover-up. Why? Teslas are extremely difficult to steal, and that fact should help pinpoint the thieves, friends of the victim say.

According to the automaker’s website, the car features an array of anti-theft devices: an engine immobilizer, a central body controller, security controller, a gateway function, drive inverters, and a passive entry transponder (PET) which activates an alarm when any type of forced entry is applied on the vehicle.

Between 2008 and 2013 , only four Teslas in the U.S. were stolen, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). And, according to the NICB, only six Teslas were stolen in California in 2015.

Pasadena Police have determined the car was stolen, although unreported at the time, and do not consider the owner of the car a suspect.

“Within hours of the incident, both the owner of the vehicle and members of the victim’s family were eliminated as potential suspects in this investigation,” said Lt. Vasken Gourdikian, Pasadena Police Department Public Information Officer. “They had no knowledge that the vehicle had been stolen nor were they involved, nor were anyone that’s related to them involved.”

Gourdikian said that the Tesla owner learned about the theft only after officers visited his home following the accident.

“We brought it to the owner’s attention after the collision,” Gourdikian said. “We went to his house. It was an unreported stolen car. He was unaware that his vehicle had been stolen in the early morning hours.”

Family members and friends of Chavez are increasingly concerned over the lack of information they have received from police about the case, but say they are still cooperating with police investigators.

“We don’t want our father’s death to go unanswered, so we’re helping with the little leads that they do have and with the community and the people reaching out to them,” said Brandon Chavez, son of the victim. “We hope they can come up with something in the next few days instead of months.

Friends of the Chavez family, meanwhile, are also growing impatient, and say they find it hard to believe no one has been identified as the possible hit-and-run driver in the incident.

At least one friend wonders if racism is playing a part in the investigation.

The case may not be getting as much attention as it should because, first, the victim was a biker, wrote Jada Bown in an e-mail to Pasadena Now, and second, he was a member of the minority in the community.

“As far as anybody in the community knows, they still haven’t got a suspect,” Brown said in a followup interview. “We just don’t understand how that is possible. With the car that was used in the crime, somebody should know something, whether it’s the person who owns the car, like there’s no way to steal the car without the key. It’s impossible.”

Gourdikian acknowledged the car’s safety and anti-theft features, but said, “Unfortunately, cars do get stolen in Pasadena.”

Gourdikian disagreed with the notion that the incident is being given less priority because of the victim’s race, or the fact that he was a member of the biker community.

As far as we’re concerned,” said Gourdikian, “he’s the victim of a vehicular homicide and we’re aggressively investigating and pursuing any and all leads and have been continuously engaged in this investigation since the time of the incident.”