Funds Raised For Vallejo Man Killed Alongside CHP Officer

SOLANO COUNTY, CA — As mourners were gathering Friday in Vacaville for the funeral service of California Highway Patrol motorcycle Officer Kirk Griess, an effort also was underway to help the family of another man who was killed in a crash on Interstate Highway 80 a week ago.

Griess, 46, and the driver he pulled over, Jaime "Jim" Bueza Manuel, were killed when a Chevrolet pickup struck them on the shoulder of eastbound I-80 near Manuel Campos Parkway in Fairfield around 9 a.m. Aug. 10.

The pickup driver, Sean Matthew Walker, 36, of Rocklin, was charged Thursday with two counts of gross vehicle manslaughter and one count of reckless driving. Walker posted bail and is scheduled to be arraigned in Solano County Superior Court Sept. 12.

A GoFundMe page has been established by Manuel's friend Rick Naval to pay for returning Manuel's remains to his family in the Philippines. As of this morning $9,250 has been raised.

Naval said Manuel, a former airline manager, left his wife and daughter in the Philippines 10 years ago to "pursue his American dream." He was working as a caregiver when he died.

Manuel wanted to see his daughter graduate from a university in the Philippines and bring his family to the United States, Naval said.

"It is my wish to fulfill that dream by finding a way for his wife and daughter to repatriate his remains to where his heart would wish he would have put to rest," Naval said.

The fundraiser is available at Gofundme.com/6q4dd-funeral-funds.

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By Bay City News Service

Photo via GoFundMe, a Patch promotional partner.