Diamond Ki’iLani Kamehaiku Sysco was a life-long automotive fanatic who died on the facet of a California interstate after armed assailants stole the keys to her van, leaving her stranded within the middle median of I-880. Her loss of life has confounded investigators and shut household alike as a wierd story involving facet reveals, signal theft and freeway theft has emerged.
This story of automotive enthusiasm gone improper involves us by way of the East Bay Times. Sysco died on I-880 simply earlier than the Dixon Landing Road exit on January 12, 2023. She was hit by a Prius that swerved on to the shoulder to keep away from her disabled van sitting within the left lane. That a part of her loss of life shouldn’t be a thriller. How she got here to be standing on the facet of the street after a freeway theft nonetheless, is a a lot stranger story. It all begins with the theft of a kind of neon inexperienced, child-shaped “children at play” indicators, and solely will get weirder from there. From the East Bay Times:
Archana Kannan saved the lime inexperienced plastic silhouette of a crossing guard in entrance of her home so her two youngsters might safely cross Lemonwood Street to play with the neighbors. When she observed it lacking one winter morning final yr, she was baffled. A model new little one security signal prices about $30 at Home Depot. Steal it? Really? Who would hassle? She complained to her neighbor however chalked it as much as youthful hijinx – till a detective knocked on her door.
A 20-year-old lady named Diamond and her boyfriend Alex had stolen the signal round 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2023, and thrown it into the again of their van.
Suddenly, somebody in a black sedan was chasing them down Interstate 880. The driver pulled in entrance of them, slammed on the brakes and compelled them to a cease within the quick lane. He jumped out and demanded the inexperienced plastic signal at gunpoint.
He additionally stole their keys, leaving them stranded in the course of the darkish freeway.
Standing within the median, Diamond was calling 911 for assist when a Toyota Prius, swerving to keep away from the van, struck her from behind. The influence despatched her flying out of her checkered sneakers.
Diamond Ki’iLani Kamehaiku Sysco died the place she landed.
Kannan couldn’t consider that this little signal meant to guard youngsters might result in such a horrible tragedy.
“I mean, why would they get mad at anybody for stealing my sign?” Kannan later instructed the Bay Area News Group. “It makes no sense.”
Sysco and her boyfriend had been on their solution to decide up a used Nissan 350Z once they stopped to allegedly take the signal and had been chased down. Her mom, a fellow automotive fanatic, thought the pair had been participating in harmless actives, like automotive meets and wrenching. Instead, Sysco’s secret life started to emerge as her distraught household dug deeper for solutions. What they discovered was a deep dive into the darker facet of loving automobiles in California.
Before her loss of life, Sysco instructed her mom over the cellphone that she knew who had run them down and stolen their van’s keys. Who might it’s? A possible particular person of curiosity — who later even inquired about shopping for Sysco’s Ford Mustang Cobra clone — appears to be of their sights, however to this point no arrests have been made.
The little inexperienced signal that kicked off the occasion was by no means returned to its proprietor, and the case is not any nearer to being solved. Was it an act of vigilantism gone improper? Payback for a facet show-related insult? You can examine the complete occasion over on East Bay Times.
Source: jalopnik.com