Family seeks answers in San Jose man’s hit-andrun death near bus station

Robbie Matthews’ death, on a darkened roadway in King City, has left his family and friends heartbroken, with far more questions than answers.

Matthews, 34, was killed the night of Jan. 30, struck by three vehicles on a main artery in the Monterey County city of about 15,000. Police are investigating Matthews’ death as a criminal hit-and-run.

Matthews was on his way home to San Jose from Las Vegas on Greyhound when he got off a bus in King City, said his grandmother, Martha Battaglia, 74.

“How can three people run over someone and no one stops, no one does anything, no one cares?” Battaglia said. “What kind of world is this?”

Police analyzed closed-circuit camera footage to identify 32 vehicles in the area around the time of Matthews’ death, then narrowed the pool down to three vehicles that hit him, said King City Police Chief Robert Masterson. Police are in the final stages of their probe into the case, he said.

“We’re still investigating how he ended up in the roadway and how he was struck,” Masterson said, adding that the results of the investigation will be forwarded to the district attorney, who would decide on any charges.

“There’s some mitigating circumstances,” Masterson said. “It’s 8 o’clock at night, it’s pitch black, Mr. Matthews was wearing all black.”

Police could not immediately identify Matthews because of the condition of his body, Masterson said. Matthews was found about 200 yards from the bus station. Police have ruled out foul play as a factor.

His family and friends are having a hard time coming to terms with his death when so much remains unknown about what led up to it, Battaglia said. Matthews had gone with his mother to Las Vegas and set off to return home by Greyhound on Jan. 28, traveling through Los Angeles, she said.

Information his family has obtained from the bus company suggests Matthews left Los Angeles at 5:45 a.m. Jan. 29, but he was photographed getting off the coach around 8 p.m. in King City, Battaglia said. Why he didn’t arrive much earlier in King City is not clear, and Greyhound has no record of him acquiring a later ticket between Los Angeles and King City, she said.

“They can see pictures of him getting off the bus with another person at 7:58,” she said.

Masterson said police interviewed the person Matthews was photographed with. Police are still seeking to speak with possible witnesses.

Matthews had lived in San Jose for most of his life, most recently working in a sandwich shop, and previously as a plant tender in the legal marijuana industry, said Battaglia of Henderson, Nevada.

“He was making his own way and doing his own thing, quite an independent little guy, loved by a lot of people,” his grandmother said. “If there was anything to do to help you out, make you feel better, make you happy about life, he was right there.

“Never in his life, in his 34 years, did I ever talk to that child or ever see him that he didn’t end the conversation with saying, ‘I love you, Gram.’ He was my light.”