Daily Archives: March 30, 2010

What a shame. Its always a tragedy when someone so young dies in asenseless manner. Family and friends are having a carwash which is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the 76 gas station at 1200 S. Glendora Ave., near Glendora and Merced avenues, to raise money for Anthony’s funeral. I am going to stop by on my way to work to help out. JD

When sophomore Britney Rodriguez, a star softball player at South Hills High School, was struggling in the field, her brother would pull her aside and offer some advice.

And when Rodriguez did well, 18-year-old Anthony Ha was the first to cheer for his half-sister, who has already verbally committed to play at UCLA.

Ha rarely missed her practices or games.

“Anthony couldn’t wait to go watch her,” said their mother, Mary Rodriguez. “He was so proud of her.”

Ha died Thursday in a car crash on the 10 Freeway that family members have called a “freak accident.”

Since he graduated in June from Fairvalley High School in Covina, he worked with his stepfather at a Chino-based vending machine company, Mary Rodriguez said.

He was biding his time, waiting for an open spot at the Mt. San Antonio College fire academy, she said.

“He was 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds. Solid muscle,” Mary Rodriguez said. “He wanted to use his size to help people.”

He was also considering the U.S. Coast Guard, she said.

Family and friends remember Anthony as a bubbly and generous person who loved fishing.

Anthony tucked his mother into bed every night and called her from work every morning to ask how she slept.

He was the type of person who would offer a chair to a standing person or cheered you up if you cried, said friend Emily Orozco, 16, of West Covina.

“He was just a good person,” she said

The day of the crash, Ha and his stepfather were heading home from work around 2:30p.m., Mary Rodriguez said.

Authorities said the van driven by stepfather, Jacinto Rodriguez, drifted to the right and struck a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder of the 10 Freeway in West Covina, killing Ha. The stepfather escaped with minor injuries.

Based on a preliminary investigation, the stepfather may have fallen asleep at the wheel, California Highway Patrol Officer Edmund Zorrilla said.

No arrests have been made, and no charges have been filed, Zorrilla said.

Though the crash remains under investigation, Mary Rodriguez said her husband told her he dozed off “a little bit” as he was driving.

“But he’s not sure what happened,” she said. “I know (Anthony) was meant to be an angel. He was the perfect son.”

The reality of Anthony’s death hasn’t hit his three other sisters, 13-year old Chyanne, 9-year old Destiny and 7-year old Enjolina, Mary Rodriguez said.

Britney said she is still struggling to comes to grips with the death.

“I’m still waiting for him to come through the door and say something stupid,” Britney said.

Funeral services are pending. A carwash is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the 76 gas station at 1200 S. Glendora Ave., near Glendora and Merced avenues, to raise money for Anthony’s funeral, family said.