CITY FOCUS:Neighbor raises money for widow

Nico Coetzee was walking over to the Classic Hand Car Wash in Costa Mesa to talk to some of his friends there when he saw paramedics working to revive a man and then, moments later, a woman sobbing over the body.

He didn’t know what exactly had happened, but he knew he had to do something to help. Later, he found out that Eduardo Rodriguez, the car wash’s manager, an acquaintance of his, had been apparently accidentally run over by a co-worker driving a customer’s SUV.

Coetzee, who owns the Met-Rx Gym down the street from the car wash, has started a fund at Washington Mutual bank to raise money for Rodriguez’s wife, Dora, and her family.

“Seeing … Dora and the family members weeping over his body, compelled me to do something for her and 2-month-old [daughter] Emily,” Coetzee said.

Coetzee wants to raise $15,000. As of 1 p.m. Tuesday the fund had collected nearly $2,500 from anonymous donors. He gave the Rodriguez family that money Tuesday, but hopes to collect the rest for them within the next two weeks. If he can’t do it by then, “I will give [proceeds to Dora] daily until I do,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s loved ones will attend a memorial service at 2 p.m. at Harbor Lawn at Mt. Olive Memorial Chapel, 1625 Gisler Ave. The service is open to the public.

Rodriguez was waving Elias Escalante-Izara forward into a narrow corridor behind the carwash April 25 when Izara punched the Mercedes SUV’s gas and hit Rodriguez, police said.

It’s not known why Izara, an unlicensed driver and illegal immigrant, accelerated, police said.

Rodriguez was pinned between the Mercedes and a Toyota Tundra pick-up truck, but Izara kept his foot on the gas, running over Rodriguez and then driving around a neighboring business before stopping and getting out of the vehicle, police said.

Izara was arrested on suspicion of driving without a valid license and taken to Costa Mesa City Jail where he was placed on an immigration hold, police said.

He is being held at an immigration facility in Arizona awaiting hearings deciding whether or not he should be deported, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lori Haley said Tuesday.

Orange County prosecutors have not yet filed a case against Izara, spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.

TO DONATE:

Washington Mutual

196 East 17th St.

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

Eduardo Rodriquez MF

Account # 314 247 5173