UPDATE: The family of 16-year-old Angel Berumen, who was severely injured after being struck by a hit-and-run driver Tuesday, confirmed Angel has been pronounced dead and his organs will be donated. His time of death was 1:55 p.m. Thursday.
"He was an angel in life, he's gonna be an angel to someone else in death and that's how we feel. He did so much good when he was here and we want him to do even more good while he's not. If given the decision himself, he would certainly be giving the same decision. Because that is the kind of angel he is."
CHP is looking for a red car related to a devastating hit and run involving a teen out of east Bakersfield.
Sometime between 5:45 and 6:38 Tuesday morning, 16-year-old Angel Berumen was on his way to school when he was severely hit by a red car that then sped away.
According to CHP, Angel sustained major life-threatening injuries and was left unconscious in the center median area of Brentwood Drive and Niles Street.
The family is devastated. Every morning for the past three years, Angel was skateboarding from his home to Foothill High School where, as a junior, he takes career-ready classes before his normal school schedule.
He has been debating whether to pursue a career as a chef or a video game developer. Now, the family said he was robbed of those dreams.
“My baby is almost dead. I am never going to be able to take him home. You got to go home, and you just left my baby in the street like he wasn’t worth anything. He had a backpack on,” said Jasmine Burleson, Angel’s mother.
Through tears Angel’s mom, Jasmine Burleson remembers when he born a month too early with a full head of hair. Now just days away from his 17th birthday, she received the worst phone call early Tuesday.
“It was the nurse at Kern Medical, she said Angel had been hit by a vehicle and that he was unresponsive, and my heart broke.”
She added that she is forever grateful to the bus driver that stopped to call 911 and stayed with him until the paramedics arrived.
Angel was taken to Kern Medical and has since been airlifted to the Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera, where his family was told he was brain dead but they’re still awaiting more test results.
“Tomorrow they will do the same test and then determine at that point. That is when we have to take him off the ventilator because there is no sense of him being on it anymore because we don’t have him anymore,” said Angel’s grandmother.
Angel’s grandmother, Joanie Moscatello, said they grew up cooking together, making pies and breakfast for the family. Something that led Angel to think about becoming a chef. She is devastated that she won't be able to share the kitchen with him.
“His name is Angel, that is what he is and now, unfortunately, realistically that is what he is going to be, one of God’s angels.”
Meanwhile, his older brother, Daniel Berumen, is holding on to hope. “He has not lived his life, he doesn’t know what life is yet, he needs to come back.”
He is only one of six siblings Angel has, who are all worried hoping he does return.
CHP is still trying to piece everything together. They do not know the make or model of the car, just that it was red, and it possibly hit Angel with the front end of the car.
They say the car probably has new damages related to this crash in an area that has been previously damaged and repaired.
“I am just asking please if you know something say something because this is not a victimless crime. This is a baby, who is not going to see his next birthday, which is just in a couple of days,” pleads Angel’s mother.
They are asking that anyone in the area who may have a camera to please check them for any kind of information. Again, CHP is also asking anyone with information to contact them if you do have any video or witnesses at (661) 396-6600.
