11 Years Later, Brother Refuses To Give Up

The brother of a San Lorenzo man who was run over by car outside  the family's business in Berkeley said Wednesday that he hopes the 11th anniversary of the crime will spark new leads in the unsolved case.
     
Richard DeVecchi, 37, was struck by a car about 7:15 a.m. on Dec.  17, 1998, in front of Berkeley Warehouse, Inc., a trucking and warehousing company located at 1920 Second St., about a block north of University Avenue.

His brother, Randy DeVecchi, said the anniversary of the death brings back bad memories and makes it hard for his family to celebrate the  holidays.

Randy DeVecchi said the crime is especially hard to deal with because it occurred next to the family business and family members are reminded of it every day.

The day he was killed, Richard DeVecchi went outside after a fellow employee tipped him off that there was a prowler near the bed of his pickup truck.

After he exited the business, he was struck by an early 1980s  Cadillac with a dark vinyl roof. The car then sped west on Hearst Avenue and then north to Interstate Highway 80. The license plate contained the letters  "CUS."

Randy DeVecchi said four witnesses who saw his brother get hit  said the suspect had been driving slowly but then accelerated, hit Richard DeVecchi and kept going.

DeVecchi said his brother was kept alive on a ventilator for  several days but was declared brain dead on Dec. 21, 1998. The next day, his organs and tissues were donated.

DeVecchi said his brother, survived by a wife and two stepchildren, was buried on Christmas Eve.

DeVecchi's family is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver. Police describe him as a black male about 5 feet 11 inches tall and 185 pounds, with short black hair.

The TV show "America's Most Wanted" has profiled the case three  times and a local cop show called "Fugitive Watch" has also aired a segment on the case.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Berkeley Police Department's homicide division at (510) 981-5741.

A trust has been set up for Richard DeVecchi's wife and children.  Contributions can be sent to Rick DeVecchi Trust Fund, P.O. Box 7706, Berkeley, CA 94707.

Bay City News

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