Two National City men are dead after a rollover crash on Friday night.
The two friends were driving northbound on D Avenue just before 11 p.m. when the driver lost control of the SUV and then crashed into two parked cars.
Victor Bacallao, 45, was a passenger on that fateful drive.
"Just that genuine guy. You know that it was love all the way around," Bacallao's brother, Ernesto Molina, told NBC 7.
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Behind the wheel was his friend, 34-year-old Robert Casillas Jr.
“That kid was funny. He was a goof. Just a good dude,“ Casillas Jr.'s brother-in-law, Damian Cruz, said.
Molina and Cruz came to the accident scene Saturday morning to see it for themselves.
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“I just had to see the accident because I knew he was involved in it. I just wanted to understand what happened,” Cruz said.
The two men were just a block north from Bacallao's home when the crash happened. Police told family members they were driving at a high rate of speed and crashed into a Nissan Altima and a Toyota 4Runner just before 16th Street.
The two victims were inside a mangled mess of three vehicles. Firefighters thought they were on a rescue, only to find out as they got closer, this would be a recovery.
“He was flying by, going at a tremendous speed. Then next, we heard it. It almost sounded like a harsh gunshot, like a pow,” witness Luis Q said.
Q lives a couple doors down from the crash. With children of his own and two schools on his street, he is acutely concerned with traffic on D Avenue.
“I feel for the families. I pray for their families,” Q said.
Bacallao worked in the shipyards. His brother says he was big-hearted and a father of five children.
“He loved his family. He loved his kids. His kids were number one always,” Molina said.
Casillas Jr. was a father of two kids and was often thought of as the life of the party.
“Every time he was around, it was fun to have him around. He’d make you laugh,“ Cruz said.
National City police are still investigating but have not blamed alcohol or drugs for the crash.
