Police and family members identified the victim of a gas and dash in Thorsby as 54-year-old Ki Yun Jo.
Jo was the owner and operator of the Fas Gas where he was killed Friday afternoon as he was attempting to stop a driver leaving without paying for gas.
‘My dad was everything for us’
Jo’s son, Sung Hyun Jo, says his family is devastated after losing the 54-year-old man in tragic way. The man left behind a wife, daughter and son.
“He was a very strong man. Only thing he cared about was his family, and he worked very hard,” Jo said. “He was working alone all by himself at the store for over 12 years. And then this happened. And we just lost everything, because the store was our living, and we lost our father too.”
Jo is upset the province has not forced all gas stations to switch to a pre-pay system. And even if a law were to be passed soon, it would be too late for his family.
“It should’ve been applied earlier, since my dad just recently passed away from such a traffic accident,” Jo said. “And I’m really hoping they apply it as soon as possible, so this doesn’t happen to anybody else other than us.”
He created a GoFundMe page to be able to switch to a pre-pay system.
"Our gas station is old and have out-dated fueling machines where we can not have customers pre-pay for gas or pay at the machine," Jo wrote on the GoFundMe page. "I would really like to get some help in changing the old machines."
Last year, Husky introduced a pilot project to test the pre-pay method, and just this past month, all Husky stations across the province force customers to pay before they fill up.
“We just feel it’s the right thing to do,” Husky spokesperson Mel Duvall told CTV News. “The incident that happened in Edmonton affected everyone at Husky very deeply. We made the decision at the time, that whether the government took action or not, we were going to take this action.”
The Alberta Federation of Labour is urging the government to also take action right away.
“The time is long passed for our government to learn the lessons that are on clear display from British Columbia. It’s time for them to take action, to stop talking,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “Let’s make this one the last one. Let’s learn a lesson that should’ve been learned a long time ago and that lesson is really simple: Pre-pay legislation works. It saves lives.”
RCMP are seeking public help
On Sunday afternoon, RCMP said they have been unable to locate the white 2006 Ford cube van that struck and killed Jo.
According to police, the suspect vehicle was stolen from Spruce Grove the day of the fatal collision at approximately 2 p.m.
Investigators are asking the public to contact them at 780-789-3951 if they see the suspect vehicle.
Jo’s son has a message for the person that killed his father.
“You should turn yourself in. You just killed a guy who worked really hard for his family, and our family just lost everything. My dad was everything for us. I don’t even know what we’re gonna do.”
With files from Angela Jung
