- Credibility:
HUMBOLDT PARK — Friends and supporters have rallied around the family of a 31-year-old bicyclist who died days after a driver hit him on his bike.
An online fundraiser for Rick Lomas has raised more than $21,000 as of Wednesday. The fundraiser was created by Lomas’s friend, Abigail Clough.
The fatal hit-and-run happened around 1:50 a.m. May 7 in the 1000 block of North California Avenue, police said.
Lomas was riding south on California Avenue when a driver traveling west hit him at the intersection without stopping, police said. Police said they had no description of the fleeing vehicle available.
Lomas refused emergency medical care on the scene, but suffered a brain hemorrhage after getting home, according to the fundraiser.
Lomas died from his injuries a few days later with his wife, Zena, by his side, according to the fundraiser and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“From the moment they met, Zena and Rick were soulmates. She is left devastated by the loss of her husband,” the fundraiser reads.
Lomas’ relatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Lomas lived in Logan Square. He did odd jobs around the neighborhood — everything from installing drywall to carpentry and painting — as he sought legal immigration status, friends said.
Clough hired him to clear out her crawl space and then to paint her house — jobs that evolved into a friendship, Clough said.
“My parents moved out of their home in New York, and I took a bunch of their wood. Rick ended up making a really cool desk for himself from some of the wood. And he would work on it in the garage,” Clough said. “I trusted him, and when I needed help to do some work, he always helped me. He just had a great work ethic.”
Lomas was “reliable and kind and funny,” Clough said in the fundraiser. “We will all miss him dearly.”
Robert Magiet, owner of the Bucktown burger and pizza joint The Stopalong, also hired Lomas to do some jobs around his house.
Magiet said he liked him so much he kept hiring him and referred him to his friends.
“Most people when they come and do work, they don’t want to be bothered and they do the work and go home. He spent hours doing work because he wanted my son to help him. That’s when I knew this is the guy I’m going to welcome into my house,” Magiet said.
Magiet is hosting a memorial event for Lomas’ family members this weekend.
The money raised through the fundraiser will go to memorial expenses and hospital bills.
No one was in custody for the hit-and-run as of Wednesday afternoon, police said. Detectives are continuing to investigate.
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