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Sarasota crash victim's family makes plea

Posted at 9:47 PM, Feb 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-13 23:42:12-05
A Tampa Bay area family is asking for your help to bring a hit-and-run driver to justice.  Skylar Sandifar, 28, was laid to rest Saturday, and that evening, his family gathered at the crash site in Sarasota.  They're pleading for anyone who knows something about the driver who ran him down, to turn themselves in.
 
Even after his funeral, Skylar Sandifar's wife and father, are still coming to terms with losing him.
 
“He’s not around anymore.  Can’t talk to him again," said Troy Sandifar, Skylar's father.
 
Back on January 31st around 7 p.m., Skylarw as riding his bicycle home from the library, when police say a late model gray Toyota Corolla LE slammed into the back of the bike and kept going.

Sandifar was thrown at least eight feet.  He was hospitalized, and then died from his injuries.

“I don’t understand what kind of a monster could just leave somebody on the side of the road," said Skylar's wife, Tiffany Sandifar.

Tiffany and Skylar were just married in September, and were raising Skylar's seven year old son together.  While she and Skylar's dad are heartbroken, they're trying to focus on all the good memories they have.

“He was a good man.  He was a hard worker.  Had good work ethics.  He was loyal.  We were a lot a like," said Troy Sandifar.

Red light camera video provides the only images of the car police think hit Skylar, and the family is convinced someone knows the driver.

“You work next to them, you work with them, you might work in a business next to them, or you know the car, and it’s pretty obvious there’s something out of the norm," said Troy Sandifar.

And the family's now begging for whoever was behind the wheel to come forward.

“Whoever you are that did this to my husband, we’re going to find you.  And if you have any heart at all.  You should turn yourself in," said Tiffany Sandifar.

If you have any information about the accident, call Sarasota Police.  The family is offering a cash reward.