HOUSTON – A mechanic killed on the job Tuesday is being remembered as a devoted father and hard worker.
Arturo Galindo’s auto body shop was closed Wednesday after the 66-year-old was killed Tuesday night when a car he was fixing fell on top of him. His employee, Miguel Angel Garcia, 30, was working underneath the hood of the same vehicle.
The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help Garcia. You can donate to it here.
Harris County Sheriff’s deputies said a man named “Tank” was picking up a car at the shop at 320 W. Canino Road. The suspect backed up the car at a high rate of speed, hitting Garcia and Galindo, deputies said.
The car fell off the jack stands that were holding it up and onto Galindo. The impact pinned Garcia’s legs between the car he was repairing and another car. Deputies say the suspect did not render aid and instead jumped into a white 2001 Chevrolet Impala and traveled east down Canino Rd.
Galindo’s daughter Karol said the workers at the repair shop had to raise the car off her father to perform CPR. Galindo didn’t survive his injuries.
“They ended up having to jack the car up to pull him out and from what I understand or from what I was told,” she said. “He took his last breath when he was pulled out from underneath the vehicle.”
Karol said her father was a hard worker who came from Mexico to provide a great life for his four children. He was married for 43 years and has ten grandchildren, according to his daughter.
Galindo’s son, Kristian, said his father loved horses and had plans of racing them next April at the Sam Houston Race Park. Kristian and his father recently took a trip to Oklahoma to look at some horses.
“I’m still in disbelief,” he said. “I’m still hoping that he’s going to come home. My dad, my hero, my role model. He was amazing.”
Garcia is recovering at a hospital in stable condition. Kristian said Garcia had to undergo surgery to get a pole placed in his leg.
Karol and Kristian said they hope the suspect turns himself in. They are hoping to one day get answers from him as to why he took off.
“I don’t hold no grudges. I forgive him,” said Karol. “I’d imagine he made a mistake and I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean it. He just shouldn’t have ran.”
Anyone with information about a black man named “Tank” is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-8477.