Towing companies unite to help family of Fresno driver killed in accident

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A band of brothers is stepping up to help the family of a tow truck driver killed on the job last week.

This is no watered-down tribute, the folks with the hoses are reaching their hands out to help Baudelio Perez, a tow truck driver who died on the job last week while helping a stranded motorist.

Most of them barely knew Perez, but they knew his heart.

"I'd only met him a couple of times, but I know he was a very kind-hearted man," Denise Fleming with Lamona Towing explained. "He helped out my drivers many times."

They also know the job. Most of these volunteers work for tow truck companies too, so they know what it's like to work on the side of the road with speeding cars going past.

"It's scary because people they buzz you, you know, two or three feet away from you," said Joe Madrigal with High Tech Road Service. "It's really scary."

The driver who killed Perez stuck around and cooperated with CHP officers. They say he didn't see the tow truck and didn't seem to break any laws. And that's the second goal of this fundraiser.

The car wash and the hot dogs are their reminders to drivers to watch out for the warning lights and the glow-in-the-dark stripes, so this family doesn't need to do any more processions of tow trucks, headed for cemeteries.

"I really didn't know him, but we're all tow brothers around this area," Jim Falcon of Falcon Towing said. "So when something happens, we all come together."

Perez leaves behind a widow and three children who will receive the proceeds of this fundraiser.