FAIRFIELD — Hazem Mohamed came home from work on Tuesday, took a quick shower and told his family he was going for a short ride on his motorbike to get some fresh air.
He never came back.
Instead, police later came to the family home to tell them Mohamed had been fatally injured in a hit-and-run accident less than a mile away.
Still in disbelief on Thursday, family and friends said the loss of the sociable, selfless 26-year-old left a void impossible to fill.
“The house is quiet without him,” said Abby Calderon, Mohamed’s girlfriend. “The first thing he did when he got home was try to make everyone laugh.”
“He put so many people in front of him,” Mariam Mohamed, one of Hazem’s sisters. “He was literally the best.”
Mohamed’s funeral was on Wednesday. Family and friends held a brief memorial service Thursday at the crash site in front of the Walgreens on King’s Highway East and Jennings Road, leaving pictures, flowers and balloons near the intersection. Pink hearts and “RIP HAZEM” were written in sidewalk chalk next to the road.
“He was just always a caring person,” Calderon said. “It didn’t matter if you only knew him a day or two days, he would take care of everyone.”
Two hours after the accident, police charged a Bridgeport man with manslaughter by motor vehicle and evasion of responsibility resulting in death. They said they found the vehicle the man was driving when he met Mohamed on Grace Street around the corner from the accident. The suspect will appear in court on August 10.
“It was shocking that the guy who hit him left, he didn’t even try to call the ambulance or do anything for him,” said Mariam Mohamed.
“He was always a cautious person, too,” Calderon said. “He always rode in full gear. It’s not that he doesn’t care and he goes for a lap, he always makes sure he’s protected no matter how hot it is.”
The family said a woman who knew Mohamed from working out at the nearby Edge Fitness Club happened to be passing by the scene and called 911 to alert police and paramedics to the accident.
Harun Rashid also met Mohamed at the gym and said he clicked with him straight away and described how he would tell friends and family that Mohamed was his adoptive brother.
Rashid, one of his younger brothers, and Mohamed became an “inseparable” trio from training together to vacations.
“He always tried to win everyone’s hearts,” Rashid said. “He always went out of his way to make you smile.”
The fourth of six siblings, Mohamed was born and raised in Egypt before the family moved to New Jersey for four years and then to Fairfield about six years ago, his sister said.
He worked in sales at a Maserati dealership in Greenwich.
Rashid said Mohamed loved his job and the high-end cars he would work with.
“Every time I had a bad day at work and said this or that was going wrong, he would send me a picture of a Bugatti or a Ferrari,” Rashid said. “He said, ‘Do you want to buy that? You have to work.”
“He would always know how to cheer me up,” Rashid said. “He would always know how to cheer someone up.”
Mohamed was planning to visit an older brother in Egypt and would talk about plans for future business ventures and endeavors, from driving exotic cars to owning large houses on the same street as his friends.
“He was just such a kind person,” Rashid said. “My brother didn’t deserve this. It was too early. He couldn’t experience his dreams, his life. He had so much hope and desires and dreams that he wanted to achieve.”
“He was an amazing person,” said Mariam Mohamed, sharing a picture of Hazem from a vacation in Colombia with her arms outstretched and a big grin on her face. “He loved everyone and was loved by everyone.”
“I miss him so much,” Rashid said. “I know it’s only been two days, I just have a feeling he’s going to text me and say, ‘What time are we going to the gym?’ It still doesn’t feel like he’s gone. It feels like he’s still here.”