Loved ones of man killed in hit-and-run speak out; APD searching for suspect

Man killed on e-scooter while visiting for F1

Austin police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who hit and killed a person on a scooter. It happened last month in downtown Austin while a group was visiting the city for Formula 1. FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen reports.

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who hit a person on a scooter downtown last month. 

His loved ones are speaking about the victim, who was here for Formula 1.

What they're saying:

Khaled Saadeddine, 33, who is from Houston, was visiting Austin with his friends for Formula 1.

Frankie Elayyan, who has been friends with him for 15 years, says they wanted to travel the world and see races. 

On October 18, the group of five friends were downtown on scooters. They got separated, and part of the group heard what sounded like a car crash at 11th Street and San Jacinto.

Austin Police say a blue four-door Dodge Ram pickup truck hit Saadeddine around 11:30 p.m.

"I saw he was breathing and wished for the best. When we got to the hospital, that's when we realized it was a lot more serious than our assumptions," Elayyan said. 

Unfortunately, Saadeddine died at the hospital. 

"He was not only my friend, but like my little brother. That was taken away from me and many others," Elayyan said.

Saadeddine leaves behind many loved ones. He was an expectant father. His wife is due in January. 

"I want the world to remember him as a good son, a good husband, a provider husband, always took care of his friends. He had a heart as the size of Texas. He loved everyone," Mahmoud Saadeddine, Khaled's father, said.

He says he was supposed to go to his sister's marriage celebration the weekend after his Austin trip.

"It never came, because, you know, God had a different destiny for him, but in general, I'm happy with him. I'm satisfied with his behavior. In my heart, I feel like he is in heaven or destined to be in heaven," Mahmoud said.

He says this is his message to the suspect. 

"I am a Muslim man, we are a Muslim family, our religion asks us to be forgiving. I don't have any hatred towards whoever he is," he said. "If he can just come and give himself to the police, just so we have closure to the case, as far as me, his mom, and his sisters, we forgive him. I want him to understand we forgive him."

"If we can pass that legacy on and let the world know who [Khaled] was and how kind-hearted he was, and put a little more effort into finding who did this, that would give us some peace," Elayyan said.

Dig deeper:

Elayyan also says something should be done about scooters in Austin, whether that be requiring helmets or banning scooters altogether. 

"Khaled's not the only one, there are others out there that are losing their lives or being injured from these scooters, so there definitely needs to be some regulation, something needs to change," he said.