A 59-year-old man arrested on suspicion of hitting and killing a 13-year-old boy with his pickup truck in Dana Point had two prior arrests for driving under the influence and was on probation for one of them, authorities said.
Bradley Gene Funk of San Juan Capistrano was found by witnesses about two to three miles away from the crash site and taken into custody by deputies, Orange County sheriff’s officials said.
The crash occurred just after 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 18, near Park Lantern and Dana Point Harbor Drive. The boy, Luis Adrian Morales-Pacheco of San Juan Capistrano, was walking with his brother to school and died at a hospital, officials said.
Funk’s truck hopped the curb and struck the boy with Funk continuing to drive on, sheriff’s Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla said. When his truck was found, it was missing a tire.
Luis was a sixth grader at Niguel Hills Middle School. A GoFundMe established to help his family had raised more than $10,000 through Wednesday afternoon.
”He was very kind, very respectful,” Aura Solares said in Spanish on Wednesday as she stood by a small memorial where the fatal collision occurred. The Mission Viejo woman said she knew the boy and his family through church. Solares said she visited the child’s mother Tuesday evening, and described her as “inconsolable,” devastated from the loss.
Jennifer Perez, her husband and son drove from Indio to visit the memorial and pay their respects.
“My son was literally robbed from me,” said Perez, who lost her 14-year-old son Liam Cantu only two weeks prior in a similar fatal collision involving a DUI driver in Indio.
Court records show Funk had two previous DUI convictions stemming from cases filed two months apart, in November 2020 and in January 2021. As a result of the last case, Funk was sentenced to five years of probation.
A probation-violation hearing was scheduled in that case for Thursday, Nov. 20.
For Tuesday’s collision, he was arrested on suspicion of murder, hit-and-run driving and driving under the influence, officials said.
Staff writers Mona Darwish and Ryanne Mena contributed to this story.
