Skateboarder killed in Mendocino hit-and-run was 'kind-hearted and free'

A Mendocino man killed by a hit-and-run driver while skateboarding in the coastal hamlet was remembered by family and friends Monday as a kind-hearted soul who eschewed material pursuits and built connections with people.

Calum Taite Pulido, 21, suffered mortal injuries when he was struck late Thursday night on Little Lake Road near the intersection with Highway 1 in the town of Mendocino, the CHP said.

Investigators have identified a “person of interest” in the case, CHP Officer Olegario Marin said Monday. A silver Toyota pickup has been impounded, the CHP said. No further details on the investigation were available Monday, Marin said.

Over 100 friends and family members gathered Sunday for a celebration of Pulido’s life at Big River beach, a place that meant a lot to him because he had lived near it when he was younger, his aunt Maria Pulido said.

“It was amazing just to see the mass amount of people who showed up,” she said. “I don’t think there is anything the community doesn’t know about Calum, because he is so well-known in Mendocino. He grew up there, went to school there. Everyone knows him.”

Maria Pulido said her nephew was an “all-natural and down-to-earth person” who was “kind-hearted and free and lived off the land.”

Another aunt, Lola Hidalgo, said Pulido was known for being kind to the people he met.

“He just had the biggest heart ever,” she said. “I don’t think I ever, ever heard him talk about anybody bad at all, throughout his whole life.”

Pulido, who enjoyed rapping, carried a hacky sack everywhere he went and loved to start pickup games, she said.

“He would always try to gather people together all the time,” she said. “He definitely was always trying to meet people and get people to interact.”

Pulido didn’t spend time pursuing material goods, Hidalgo said, instead opting to spend time enjoying the company of friends and family.

He had one sister, and no children or other siblings, she said.

“He wasn’t all caught up with the worldly things. He wasn’t materialistic. It just seemed like he was just free because of that,” she said. “People just were drawn to him because he was just so full of life.”

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Beale at 707-521-5205 or andrew.beale@pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Writer Alexandria Bordas at 707-521-5337 or alexandria.bordas@pressdemocrat.com.