SAN ANTONIO – A former roommate of a man killed in a hit and run crash is appealing for the driver to come forward.
Damian Cooke, 32, was hit some time before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 1900 block of Austin Highway. The car that hit him kept going, according to San Antonio police.
"He was my closest friend here in San Antonio. It's awful," said John Newman, Cooke's former roommate. "He was a really, really good guy. He was really funny and everybody loved him."
Newman said they shared his North side apartment until a few weeks ago, when Cooke moved in with his girlfriend, not far from the crash site.
A waiter at the Rainforest Café, Cooke had also been in the Navy at one time as well as a standup comic and radio DJ, Newman said.
Why he was standing out on the street at that late hour, Newman doesn't know.
A police report, however, shows that he apparently was waiting for a cab. A taxi driver was among the first to find Cooke and told police he had received a call to pick him up as a fare.
The area where he was hit has been turned into a shrine by friends. They decorated the area with flowers, a memorial sign and T-shirts from two restaurants where he had worked.
"Maybe Damian was in the middle of the road, I have no idea but the person hit him and drove away, you know, so they are culpable," Newman said.
Newman said he'd like to see that driver punished.
Anyone with information is asked to call San Antonio Crime Stoppers at 224-STOP.