Community remembers man struck and killed in Waterbury

WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH) -- A man was killed after being struck by a teen in a stolen car in Waterbury Monday.

It happened at the Country Village Apartments at 46 Lester Drive.

The man who was killed was a long-time maintenance worker in the community. He had worked at Country Village Apartments for the past 23 years. He was a mentor and friend to many he worked with and for.

"He's going to be missed by all the tenants, all the co-workers and today is just a very sad day," said Michael Collins, victim's boss.

Yesterday afternoon his colleague and friend of 25 years, 62-year-old Ivan Rajcoomar, was hit and killed by a car. Rajcoomar had been out on a maintenance call and was grabbing some tools from his truck when police say a speeding 16-year-old driver ran him over. Collins is not only grieving the loss of his friend, but the fact that he was the one who sent him out on that call.

"I sent him down here, they called me two minutes later on the radio and said that he'd been struck by a car. I came down here and that's when I saw him on the ground and it was a hard thing, just a hard thing," said Collins. "I just feel like if I hadn't sent him down here maybe it wouldn't have gone down the way that it went down."

A memorial now sits where Rajcoomar was killed and where one of his colleagues helplessly watched it happen.

"I can't even think how he died so fast, I was just talking to him," said Jonathan Yeargan. "I was about to yell out to him."

The driver tried to flee the scene, but residents tracked him down.

"He tried to leave the scene and I followed him over there and we caught him at the office," said one woman.

Police arrested the driver. Residents and the maintenance staff have since been gathered at the very spot Rajcoomar died to remember the great life he led.

"He's a very good man, very generous, very helpful, very friendly with us," said Evelyn Bonilla, resident, "and anything we needed if he could do it he would help us with it."

"He not only fixed your stuff, he touched your heart," said Yeargan. "He made you feel for him as he felt for you."

He leaves behind a wife and four children; one of whom worked as a maintenance worker alongside him.

The name of the driver is not being released because he is just 16 years of age. He has been charged with manslaughter with a motor vehicle and felony evading responsibility.

He's currently being held at a juvenile detention facility.