Peter Rudyk had just started working nights as a busboy at The Emerald Isle restaurant in Aurora.
Childhood picture of Peter Rudyk, who was killed by hit-and-run driver
Photo courtesy of Families of Victims of Homicide and Missing Persons
The 16-year-old Smoky Hill High School student wanted to help his mother make payments on her car.
Rudyk also wanted to buy a car of his own.
He usually would catch a ride home with friends but the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 14, 1983 was pleasant, according to news accounts at the time.
He and 16-year-old co-worker John Baker were walking home near Quincy Avenue’s intersection with Chambers Road when they were struck by a car.
They were thrown 30 feet in the air.
The accident happened at an unlighted section of a street where homes were under construction.
The driver didn’t hang around. He drove off. It was 12:30 a.m.
Baker survived with head and internal injuries. His leg was broken. He was in a coma.
Rudyk suffered massive head injuries. He was taken to Humana Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
During a funeral at Fairmont Mortuary, Peter’s father spoke.
“I don’t have a sense of vengeance (toward the driver),” Brian Rudyk said. “Maybe later on I’ll have some animosity. Not now. I want to make sure that no other kids are run down. It’s such a waste of life. I just can’t imagine anyone doing this. I hope the guilt and shame would bring the person to admit it.”
When Baker returned home in a leg cast he told Denver Post correspondent Sally Hekkers that his friend’s death “hurts a lot.”
“I dislike the fact that he hit me and didn’t stop,” Baker said.