The coroner’s office has released the name of a 41-year-old man who Michael Ramljak has been identified as the victim of a hit and run in Santa Monica earlier this month. He was killed while riding a scooter in Ocean Park.
His personally owned electric scooter was hit on 3rd Street between Hill Street and Ashland Avenue after 8 p.m. on March 15 when he fell onto the road, according to the SMPD.
According to the Santa Monica Daily Press, a vehicle also traveling south hit him. The driver got out of his vehicle but fled the scene before first responders arrived. Ramljak suffered significant head and body trauma and was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. He died shortly after.
The vehicle that hit Ramljak is an older, off-white or tan sedan, possibly a Toyota Camry with damage to its front passenger’s side. The driver, who has not yet been found, is a white man in his 30s and is 6 feet 2 inches tall with a medium build. He has a shaved head or short hair and was wearing prescription glasses.
The investigation is ongoing and investigators are interested in speaking with anyone who was in the area near the time of the collision. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Investigator Scott Pace at (310) 458-8954 or SMPD at (310) 458-8495.
Ramljak was the owner of Giggling Machinist Mobile Welding and Machining and lived in Culver City, said his friend, Nicholas Prechter. He was also a board member of the German American Club of Santa Monica, said his friend and fellow board member, Andrea Fenninger.
Fenninger said Ramljak was gentle, kind and helpful. “He was always willing to help or volunteer to make things easier,” she said. “What happened is really stunning and unexpected to everyone who knew him.”
A funeral will be held at Ramljak’s family’s ranch on April 1.
“He was real silly and had a funny sense of humor,” Prechter said. “If he knew his funeral was being held on April Fools’ Day, he would have found it hysterical.”
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