A 13-year-old boy was killed on his way to school this past Tuesday morning by 59-year-old Bradley Gene Funk, who is from San Juan Capistrano.
The incident took place early in the morning at the intersection of Park Lantern and Dana Point Harbor Drive, where Funk’s car jumped the curb and barreled towards 13-year-old Luis Adrian Morales-Pacheco and his older sibling, who were on their way to school at the time. The vehicle missed the older sibling, but struck Luis.
Authorities arrived at the scene at around 8:20 AM.
“What we know is that the 13-year-old boy was walking to school with his older brother at the time,” Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla states. “The older brother is OK. He was not struck by the vehicle.”
Gwisdalla also says that “The 13-year-old boy was standing on the curb, waiting for the light, and it jumped the curb, went over the center median there, then corrected back onto the road and continued down towards Pacific Coast Highway.”
Witness testimony led investigators to Funk, who had fled the scene and was two or three miles away from the crime scene. He was taken into custody shortly after under suspicion of DUI. Funk is stated to have two prior DUI arrests on his criminal record. Morales-Pacheco was pronounced dead soon after being rushed to the local hospital.
Soon after the crash, Eyewitness News filmed an 11-year-old girl, one of Morales-Pacheco’s friends from school, arrive with her mother to what has become a growing memorial where the deadly crash took place. They placed down a bouquet of flowers and a candle.
“I kind of wanted to support him and like, know he’s doing good, and know like, people are remembering him,” Morales-Pacheco’s friend, Ireland McGarvin, stated.