Hit-and-run crash kills golf course worker on lawnmower, California police say

A San Leandro golf course worker has died after a hit-and-run driver rammed into his riding lawnmower on a nearby street, California police reported.

“It makes me sick. It almost — it makes me rage,” John Jorgensen, golf course superintendent at Monarch Bay Golf Club, told KTVU about the death of worker Ismael Hernandez.

Hernandez died Wednesday, April 20, in the hospital after being rear-ended by a stolen black Dodge Ram pickup truck at 4:15 p.m. Monday, April 18, San Leandro police said in a news release.

Hernandez was returning a riding mower to the golf course maintenance yard via a bicycle lane on Fairway Drive, KTVU reported. He was a single father to three children.

The driver of the pickup truck, who witnesses say had earlier been driving recklessly in the area, ran off after the crash, police said.

Police later arrested a passenger in the truck on a warrant, leading to the arrest of accused driver Jason McDermott, 43, of Oakland, the release said.

McDermott faces charges including negligent vehicular manslaughter, hit and run with injuries, and other charges, police said. The golf course is mourning Hernandez’s death.

“It was so senseless for a man who’s so gentle, who is so — he never, ever, ever had a frown on his face,” Jorgensen told KTVU.

This story was originally published April 24, 2022 at 10:34 AM with the headline "Hit-and-run crash kills golf course worker on lawnmower, California police say."