A 24-year-old Santa Rosa man who was fatally struck as he crossed Mendocino Avenue on Friday night was remembered Saturday as a talented artist and generous friend.
Green spray-painted circles identified the spot in the bike lane where Joe Hyland was thrown when he was hit in the crosswalk at Benton Street at 9:42 p.m. Friday.
He had not activated the overhead flasher that would have helped alert drivers to his presence in the crosswalk, said William Tobler, a friend who was with Hyland when he was hit.
"I guess he just darted across the street - thought he could make it," Tobler said.
The driver was identified by Santa Rosa police as Mansor Mickel, 28, of Santa Rosa. He been traveling south on Mendocino Avenue and stopped a short distance away and called 911, police said.
Hyland, who was knocked from his skateboard, was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The overhead alert at the crosswalk was not flashing when the accident happened, police Sgt. Chad Heiser confirmed Saturday night.
Distraught friends and co-workers described Hyland as a man of many facets: quirky and charismatic, a fun-loving skateboarder who was well-read, a social creature who could also be reclusive.
Hyland so loved the feline stray he'd taken in that he recently got a tattoo of the cat's name, Leroy, one of his friends said.
"He was, like, wise beyond his years but had an innocence about him," Nate Glomb said Saturday at the scene of the accident, where several friends paid their respects throughout the day.
Hyland, a twin who grew up near Steele Lane Elementary School, had attended Santa Rosa High School, Santa Rosa Middle School and Steele Lane Elementary School, one longtime friend said.
Until recently, he had been employed by Pacific Market and neighboring Sandy's Pizza at Town and Country shopping center, where he was well-known by regulars, co-workers said.
"He's a legend," said Pacific Market deli clerk Michael Bellonio, who worked with Hyland for most of his seven years he was there.
"He was so well-loved by all of the customers," Audrey Maddigan said at Sandy's Pizza.
"Young and old," co-worker Vienna Von Renner said. "Little kids would run in, &‘Is Joe here?'
" Friends also admired Hyland's paintings and pen drawings, which included small-scale graphic cityscapes, among other illustrations."He always did all kinds of great stuff," Bellonio said. "I have six of his paintings on my wall because he gave them to me. He was a sweet guy."Relatives said his parents, Bob and Josette Hyland, older sister Michelle Hyland and twin brother Kiernan Hyland - who was named after their grandfather, the late Municipal Court Judge Kiernan R. Hyland - were crushed by the news."This is very, very sad for the family," said Hyland's uncle, Rich Hyland, of Santa Rosa."I'm just so devastated," his aunt, Mary Anderson said. "My brother can't even talk and we don't know really what happened."Police asked that anyone who witnessed the fatality contact Officer Matthew Sanchez at 543-3636.
Friends also admired Hyland's paintings and pen drawings, which included small-scale graphic cityscapes, among other illustrations.
"He always did all kinds of great stuff," Bellonio said. "I have six of his paintings on my wall because he gave them to me. He was a sweet guy."
Relatives said his parents, Bob and Josette Hyland, older sister Michelle Hyland and twin brother Kiernan Hyland - who was named after their grandfather, the late Municipal Court Judge Kiernan R. Hyland - were crushed by the news.
"This is very, very sad for the family," said Hyland's uncle, Rich Hyland, of Santa Rosa.
"I'm just so devastated," his aunt, Mary Anderson said. "My brother can't even talk and we don't know really what happened."
Police asked that anyone who witnessed the fatality contact Officer Matthew Sanchez at 543-3636.
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