The man who died Thursday after being struck by a gasoline tanker truck in San Francisco had just become a U.S. citizen and was looking forward to voting in his first election, co-workers said.
Sena Putra, 47, of Oakland was crossing 13th Street at 12:55 p.m. when a tanker heading north on Folsom Street turned right onto 13th and hit him, police said. Putra died at the scene.
Putra was walking back from lunch to his job as an accountant for UCSF’s Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital when he was struck, said his supervisor, Diane Schlueter.
Police told her that Putra had been in the crosswalk on a green light.
“He was crossing on the right side,” Schlueter said. “I just don’t know why the driver didn’t see him.”
The driver stopped and cooperated with investigators, police said. No arrests have been made.
Putra emigrated from Indonesia almost 10 years ago and became a U.S. citizen April 17, Schlueter said. After getting the news of his death, Schlueter opened his briefcase and found his completed voter registration forms.
“He was really, really excited and looking forward to voting for the first time as an American citizen,” she said.
Putra moved to the Bay Area in November from Washington state, where his mother and sister live, Schlueter said.
Most of his family is in Jakarta attending a family wedding, Schlueter said. Putra couldn’t afford to go.
“He was thoughtful of other people and he had quite a wit,” Schlueter said. “He was a very quiet person and very intelligent.”
She added, “He had high hopes and high dreams. And they’re just gone, just like that.”
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