VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — One person is dead after a four-vehicle crash on I-264 early Thursday morning, Virginia State Police said.
One of the vehicles involved was disabled on the right shoulder of the highway, Sgt. Michelle Anaya said.
State police had previously said only three vehicles were involved in the crash.
The crash happened after 5 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of I-264 at Independence Boulevard.
State police said the driver of a 2006 Ford F-150 was traveling eastbound on I-264 when he saw the disabled Kia on the side of the road.
Dion O. Cooke stopped in the closed traffic lane (it is marked with a red x on a VDOT electronic sign) to help the driver of the Kia.
That's when the driver of a 2015 Nissan Sentra, traveling on the closed lane, hit the rear end of the F-150.
The Nissan Sentra swerved into the lane of a 2007 Mack Dump Truck. The 81-year-old driver of Sentra died upon impact.
State police identified the driver as Cecilio Simeon Pulgar of Virginia Beach.
His grandson, Jed Gonzales, described him as a strong, resilient person who was the rock of his big family.
The 81-year-old had a lot of energy and got up for work every single day.
Gonzales said that’s where his grandfather was headed Thursday morning when he lost his life in the crash.
Gonzales said the sudden loss of the man they called “Tatai,” meaning father, in the Tagalog language spoken in the Philippines, shocked the family.
“He always just wanted to see us happy, his grandchildren. He had a lot of them he would always just slip us some cash for no reason, just to see us happy. That’s what I’ll remember about him, just that he wanted to see us happy,” said Gonzales.
Gonzales said he heard about the accident at work.
“A coworker of mine noticed the news article and showed it to me, like, ‘Hey, this crazy thing happened on the interstate.’ I saw it and I saw 80-something year old man, Nissan Sentra, that sounds like my grandfather,” said Gonzales. “I make the connection in my head, not even close.”
An hour later he received the sad news that his grandfather died in the crash.
Gonzales said his grandfather was the kind of person who had a good sense of humor and made everyone around him laugh. Pulgar taught his grandchildren valuable life lessons.
“If I could tell him something, it would be thanks for the memories. Thanks for always making me laugh and thanks for teaching me about having a good sense of humor and how important it was,” said Gonzales.
While the sudden loss is hard to process, Gonzales said the family has something good to hang onto.
Pulgar and his five children all got together in New Jersey this past weekend.
It was the first time in about eight years since he saw all of his children together.
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