Music teacher ID’d as motorcyclist killed in freeway hit-and-run

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A musician and teacher with three young children has been identified as the motorcyclist who died after being struck by two vehicles on Interstate 580 outside of Livermore last week.

The San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday confirmed the victim was 60-year-old Andrew Verdoes, of Tracy. Loved ones, who initiated a GoFundMe drive to support Verdoes’ family, said he was a married father with kids between 1 and 7 years old.

“Andrew was a dedicated musician and teacher here in the Central Valley,” the GoFundMe organizers wrote. “This tragic event happened on the Altamont pass while returning home from a day of teaching music.”

The online fundraiser had generated more than $14,000 as of Thursday afternoon. Verdoes also played in a classic rock and blues band, Blue-a-Fuse.

“It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of one of our own, Andrew Verdoes, who passed away Wednesday night (Nov. 6) in a fatal motorcycle accident on the Altamont Pass. The CHP seeks witnesses to the accident. Andrew was a friend and teacher here for over 20 years, and we ask that you keep his family in your prayers as they navigate this difficult time,” the owner of Main Street Music in Tracy said on Facebook.

Verdoes’ death is being investigated as a hit-and-run, with the drivers of two other vehicles involved in the crash fleeing the scene that night. Neither had been identified or located as of Tuesday, according to Officer Tyler Hahn, of the California Highway Patrol’s Dublin office.

The deadly collision occurred just before 7:45 p.m. Nov. 6 on eastbound I-580 west of Grant Line Road near the Stone Cut railroad crossing in unincorporated Alameda County on the outskirts of Livermore, according to Hahn.

The initial investigation indicated that a gold SUV, possibly an older-model Lexus, was weaving through traffic and ultimately side-swiped a 1995 Harley Davidson motorcycle that was splitting the Nos. 1 and 2 lanes, according to Hahn. The motorcycle and its rider — later identified as Verdoes — were knocked underneath a semi-truck driving in the No. 3 lane.

The Tracy man was pronounced dead that night. The medical examiner’s office confirmed that although the crash occurred in Alameda County, Verdoes was transported to the trauma unit at San Joaquin General Hospital, where he died.

The situation became a hit-and-run after “the semi-truck and the gold SUV both briefly stopped on the shoulder before fleeing the scene,” Hahn said. “The semi-truck was described to be hauling a white shipping container on a flat bed. The container was white with red lettering.”

Anyone with information related to the crash can contact the CHP-Dublin office at 925-828-0466.