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A memorial fund has been established at First Northern Bank for Mike Bower’s family. Contributions to the Mike Bower Memorial Fund may be made at any First Northern Bank branch, including the Davis branch at 434 Second St.
Mike Bower worked two jobs to support his young family, and he was nearing the end of his shift for one of them when he was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver Monday night.
“He was definitely a hard worker,” said Octavio Portugal, owner of Octavio’s Towing in Dixon, who was one of the last people to see the 29-year-old Bower alive. “He was always going the extra mile to make sure people had whatever they needed.”
Bower, a married father of two daughters, ages 4 and almost 1, was driving a flatbed tow truck westbound on Highway 50 near the Jefferson Boulevard exit when the vehicle began leaking coolant, Portugal said in an interview Tuesday.
He summoned his boss to the scene shortly before 8 p.m., and together they repaired the problem. Portugal then drove away, headed back toward Dixon.
“I must have left about a minute before it happened,” said Portugal, who tried to radio Bower a short time later “and I didn’t get any response, so I decided to go back.”
That’s when Portugal saw the flashing lights of California Highway Patrol vehicles and other emergency personnel that had descended upon the scene.
“My heart broke,” Portugal said. “I was in disbelief.”
CHP investigators say it appears Bower was in the process of packing up the orange emergency triangles he had used to alert other motorists to his disabled tow truck when he was struck by another westbound vehicle — possibly a big rig, based on the extent of Bower’s injuries.
Portugal said Bower also had activated his vehicle’s hazard lights as well as the emergency lights on the cab’s roof.
While the CHP’s initial news release on the incident said the other driver also sideswiped the left front of Bower’s tow truck after allowing the vehicle to drift to the right, by Tuesday that seemed less clear.
Officer Pedro Leon said the tow truck was parked close enough to the freeway’s slow lane that it’s possible Bower was partially in the lane when he was hit. The damage to his tow truck may have been from the impact of his body hitting the vehicle.
No other motorists reported witnessing the fatal collision, which was discovered shortly before 9 p.m. by a passing CHP officer checking on the parked tow truck.
“There’s a possibility that the (other driver) didn’t even know” that his or her vehicle struck Bower, Leon said. There were no leads as of this morning, and “without a witness, it’s going to be an uphill battle.”
“That rig could have gone anywhere, from as close as West Sacramento to all the way to the bay,” and it may not have sustained any damage, Leon added.
The CHP is urging anyone who may have been driving past that area Monday night, or who has any information that might aid the investigation to call their office at 530-662-4685.
Meanwhile, Bower’s co-workers are mourning a man who enjoyed joking around, but had a humble side as well.
Previously from Esparto, Bower had worked the swing shift at Octavio’s Towing for nearly two years in addition to his job with PepsiCo., according to Portugal. His family “is not holding up too good,” he said.
“I just hope that (the other driver) comes forward, so the family has closure for what happened,” Portugal said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene