Man with special needs thrown 40 feet in hit-and-run crash in Houston

HOUSTON – A man with special needs is in the hospital fighting for his life after someone hit him and left him lying in the middle of the road.

Porfirio Alvarez, 53, was walking along TC Jester Boulevard and Allen Street in the Washington Corridor when he was hit.

It was two weeks ago.

Fast forward to now and her family is still no closer to answers as to who hit and left their loved one who was just collecting cans to recycle.

“Everyone knows him in the neighborhood. Everyone knows he collects cans,” said his sister, Maria Ramirez.

For Alvarez, it’s his hobby. The extra change he gets from hauling his haul to the scrap yard brings a mile-wide smile to his face.

Most people in the neighborhood will help him and give them their scrap, but Alvarez doesn’t realize that not everyone is that nice.

“Someone who is autistic, it’s very difficult to tell them. He (doesn’t) understand that not everyone is good there,” Ramirez said.

On the evening of May 23, 2024, he discovered the worst kind of person. A person who hit him and left him lying for dead on TC Jester Boulevard, near the railroad tracks.

“When the vehicle hit him, it threw him 40 feet,” said Cecilia Alvarez, Alvarez’s niece.

A bartender at a nearby restaurant heard the crash and ran outside to see what happened. They found Alvarez’s shopping cart and cans scattered everywhere.

The person who hit him was long gone.

“Maybe this person thought it was just trash. But if you hear something everywhere you would think so, wouldn’t you want to stop and see what’s going on? What did you hear,” Ramirez said, holding back tears.

To make matters worse, his family found out, not through a phone call, but through an Apple AirTag tracker.

“My sister is checking the location. This shows us that he is at Ben Taub Hospital,” Cecilia Alvarez said.

He’s alive, but Alvarez is still in the hospital with a long list of broken bones. The accident left doctors with no choice but to remove his kidney and spleen.

To this day he is still intubated and the reality is that recovery is not promising.

“It’s a long road. If he survives, the road to recovery will be long,” Ramirez said.

“We are just asking anyone who knows any information. Or if you have, come forward. That’s all we’re asking for: justice,” Alvarez added.

Houston police are investigating the hit-and-run. Unfortunately, investigators do not have enough concrete evidence to provide a description of the vehicle that struck Alvarez.

Both detectives and the Alvarez family are asking anyone who knows anything to come forward to help bring him justice.

You can submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Houston online or by calling 713-222-ADVICE (8477).