A family in Ventura is mourning the father of the household who died in a head-on collision Thursday on PCH in Malibu.
Julissa Jimenez said her final goodbye to her father Julián, who was on his way to work as usual when the tragedy occurred.
“I remember that night he came over and said, ‘I’m leaving now, dear, and I said, ‘OK, be careful.’ And I kissed him on the forehead,” Jimenez said. “That day, my dad was going to work, he was going to Malibu, he was going to clean, and a car was coming from here to Oxnard and it crashed head-on into my dad.”
Julissa says that her father worked at a restaurant. As he was driving down Pacific Coast Highway around 7 p.m., a 25-year-old driver swerved into his lane and crashed head-on into Julian’s truck, CHP said.
The driver of the second vehicle also died in the crash, and a passenger was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the crash, according to the CHP.
When Jimenez heard about the crash, she tried to call her father, but when she got no answer, she began to worry. She managed to see some videos of the crash on social media.
“And from a distance, I could see a truck, and I said, ‘It looks like my dad’s, but I can’t see it clearly, I can’t see the license plates,’” Jimenez said.
Hours later, the devastating news of his death was delivered at her doorstep by a California Highway Patrol officer.
“My dad came here for his American dream. He was just another immigrant. He worked hard for us and for his family in Mexico, and he didn’t deserve to die like that.”
Julian arrived in the United States as a teenager. He was originally from Durango, Mexico, and at 53, he still had a dream to fulfill.
“And that was the hardest part because he was really looking forward to going to Durango. He had been here for many years. He had been living here for thirty years and wanted to see his parents and siblings and nephews, but he never made it,” said Julissa.
Unfortunately, Julián was unable to fulfill that dream. However, his last wish was to be buried in his homeland, something his family plans to fulfill.
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