Family struggles with loss of Modesto cyclist killed in hit-and-run

Whether they were thrown or blown into the bushes along Maze Boulevard, the photocopied white papers taped to both sides of neatly cut pieces of cardboard likely wouldn’t have caught the attention of passers-by. But the relatives of Arcadio Plancarte Nolasco recognized them right away: copies of prayers, neatly handwritten in Spanish by the Modesto man, who gave them to friends, family, people he encountered.

Family members found them when they went to place bouquets of flowers along Maze just east of North Carpenter Road. That’s where 79-year-old Nolasco died Monday morning after being struck by four vehicles as he pedaled his three-wheel cycle.

Nolasco was westbound on Maze, apparently trying to turn left onto Carpenter Road, when he pulled into the path of an oncoming car, police say. The driver, Ryan Reeder, pulled over and attempted to provide aid to Nolasco, but a Mini Cooper behind Reeder also struck the cyclist and continued on its way.

Nolasco was thrown into the westbound lanes of Maze, where he was struck twice more. One of those drivers left the scene, but the final one stopped.

Wednesday morning, Nolasco’s daughters, a granddaughter and her husband remembered the beloved patriarch and sought answers, some of which may not come. Nolasco’s widow, Flora, a Spanish speaker like he was, sat and listened, too shaken to share thoughts on her husband and his death.

Every weekday morning, Nolasco rode to 7 a.m. Mass at nearby St. Stanislaus Catholic Community. Why, then, does it appear he was riding away from the church when the 6:10 crash occurred? Or might he have been crossing Carpenter to head east on Maze to the church entrance?

Did Reeder get a chance to comfort Nolasco? “Our biggest concern was that he was not alone” if he was conscious before his death, said daughter Gabby Alcazar of Lathrop.

And the most baffling question: Why did two drivers who struck him not stop?

“I think it’s so horrible that multiple cars hit him and half of them left him there,” Alcazar said. “How could they not pull over and check on him?”

After living in Palo Alto many years, the Nolascos came to the Valley to be with children in Modesto, Lathrop and Stockton. The couple had lived here eight years.

Arcadio Nolasco, a retired nursery worker, was a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with cancer of the ear in 2009 and had to have his ear canal removed, leaving him deaf in his left ear.

It was just after his surgery that he began coming to St. Stanislaus Catholic Community, said Sister Irma of Sisters of the Cross, which has a convent between St. Stanislaus Catholic Church and the parish school. “He couldn’t hear, but he learned to communicate with us and he could read what we were telling him,” she said.

Nolasco was devout, arriving at chapel at 6 a.m. weekdays without fail. If the sisters didn’t open the chapel doors promptly at 6, they would find he’d already begun praying outside by the convent garden, Sister Irma said.

The sister said Nolasco volunteered with a group that cleaned the parish, and he often brought the sisters treats such as fruit. “He was very generous, kind. We were good friends even though we couldn’t communicate well,” Sister Irma said. “We’re very, very sad because he was coming to Mass when that happened. ... We are missing him very much.”

The Sisters of the Cross told Nolasco’s family they immediately noticed his absence Monday because he had a certain seat he sat in. He sometimes made trips to Mexico, said granddaughter Monica Aguilar, “and he always told them, ‘Make sure to keep my spot because I’ll be back.’ They said they will leave it open for him now” in his memory.

The church and his faith were “his everything,” Alcazar said.

In the basket of his cycle, said another daughter, Isabel Cervantes of Stockton, he would carry his Bible, his rosary and the prayer cards he handed out.

“We didn’t want him riding it, but he was so active,” Cervantes said of her father, who family said loved to play softball, baseball and basketball even in his latest years. “He wanted to be out and about and active.” Parishioners told his family they knew he was Monday’s accident victim as soon as they saw his cycle on the side of the road.

Investigators have developed further information on the case, said Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves on Wednesday. The Mini Cooper that hit Nolasco is a 2008 hard-top hatchback with “hot chocolate” metallic paint, Graves said, and major front-end damage to the driver’s side fender and headlight.

It should have been evident to that driver that he or she struck a person, Graves said, while the driver of another car – a dark sedan – that hit Nolasco might not have realized what exactly happened.

Detectives have not determined fault in the initial collision between Reeder’s car and Nolasco’s cycle, she said.

Anyone who was involved in the crash or witnessed it is asked to contact Crime Stoppers. Anonymous tips can be left for Crime Stoppers by phone at 209-521-4636, by email at http://www.modestopolice.com/CrimeStoppersor by text message to CRIMES (274637) by typing “Tip704” plus a message.

Standing at an altar their father built inside the entry to his home, Nolasco’s daughters said he prayed their for his mother and a brother who preceded him in death and whose photos hang there on the wall. He’ll be laid to rest in Fremont near his daughter Rosario, who died in 2001.

“He always talked about the other side. He was ready,” Alcazar said.

“He’d say, ‘I’m not scared of death, I can’t wait to see my mother and brother,’ ” added Cervantes.

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Family struggles with loss of Modesto cyclist killed in hit-and-run."