Family confirms that Lemoore, Calif. native 23-year-old Oscar J. Temores, a Navy master-at-arms, died Saturday night after a crash in Virginia Beach.
While the military has not officially released his name, they confirmed during a Monday afternoon news conference that his family has been notified of his passing.
A GoFundMe account was created and states that the deceased is Temores, who leaves behind a wife and 2-year-old son who live in Hanford and are currently en route to Virginia, according to the GoFundMe page.
“His loss is a tremendous blow to our family, and to the community of Lemoore, CA, where he was born and raised. He made an impact on every face he interacted with through his ability to make anyone laugh or smile,” brother Ricky Temores wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“The master-at-arms who died served his country and this base in an exemplary manner with honor, distinction, and professionalism,” said Capt. Joey L. Frantzen, who declined to name Temores.
Police say around 7:35 p.m. Saturday a civilian male entered the outbound lane at Gate 8 driving at a high rate of speed.
The adult male crashed into the master-at-arms base security vehicle, resulting in injuries to the suspect and the master-at-arms.
Both were transported to Virginia Beach General Hospital, where the master-at-arms died from his injuries a short time later. The suspect remains hospitalized with serious injuries.
“Security personnel immediately dispatched to apprehend the unauthorized civilian who was driving on base,” Frantzen said. “The suspect was on base for a short period of time before he collided head-on with a Navy patrol car that my master-at-arms was driving.”
Frantzen spoke fondly of Temores, who he would not name, but the family gave 10 On Your Side a picture of Frantzen and Temores.
10 On Your Side also spoke by phone with Oscar’s brother Ricky.
“We are devastated because we had just Facetime with him for Thanksgiving, and had spoken with him not even hours before this happened,” he said.
“He had nothing but goodness to give to this world and he was sometimes brutally honest,” his brother said. “He was one of the funniest people.”
He continued: “He was a just a tremendous light in our family. We don’t understand why this has happened to us. We don’t know why he was chosen by God to be taken so early.”
Minutes before the crash that would kill Oscar, John Lugo was nearly hit head-on before the suspect went to the base.
“The vehicle passed me while driving my family, nearly hitting us head-on… It was like six inches… It was traveling at a high rate of speed,” Lugo said. “I ask myself why not us? Why him? He was a sailor on duty.”
Lugo’s wife and son were in the car when the suspect’s vehicle nearly hit them.
The incident remains under investigation, with the Virginia Beach Police Department leading the investigation, with support from base police and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Linda Keuhn with Virginia Beach Police said the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office will determine what charges the driver will face. She said while speed has been determined to be a factor, it is unknown at the time if alcohol was.
The GoFundMe account can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/oscar-temores/
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