Loop 202 victim mourned

They may not have been relatives, but most would agree they are family. More than 55 tow trucks and their drivers turned out Thursday evening in Gilbert to honor one of their own - AAA tow truck driver Jesse S. Gault, 44, who was killed a week ago after he changed a stranded woman's tire on Loop 202.

Slideshow: Tow truck driver mourned

Parade of 200 tow trucks to honor killed driver

They lined up their tow trucks and turned on their lights as they drove in a procession from Falconer Funeral Home, near Gilbert and Guadalupe roads, to Mesa where Gault worked at Thompson's Auto Repair and Towing, on Main Street near Stapley Drive. His casket was strapped onto the flatbed of the lead tow truck.

While not all of the drivers knew Gault, many said his death reminds them how dangerous their jobs are as they help drivers on Valley freeways each day.

"It's an eye-opener," said Don Burkett, of SDL Towing in Phoenix. "It makes you look over your shoulder for the next three or four weeks."

Gault died last Friday in a horrific crash on the Red Mountain Freeway portion of Loop 202 near Gilbert Road. He had just changed a woman's tire when a large truck veered into Gault's truck, killing him and Jean Bunch.

Bunch, a 56-year-old Mesa resident, was a registered nurse who had worked at Phoenix Children's Hospital since February 2002 and spent years in the hospital's clinical emergency department before changing positions this year to lead the hospital's transition to electronic medical records, said Debra Stevens, a hospital spokeswoman.

"She was an exceptional trainer and teacher and just really well-liked by her colleagues," Stevens said. "She had a good sense of humor, but probably the thing I noticed most ... she really knew how to bring people together."

Stevens recalled how Bunch would often donate gifts at Christmas to mothers who had been victims of domestic violence. She would make the women "incredible gift baskets with warm socks and lotions," Stevens said.

Information on services for Bunch has not been made available.

Gault and Bunch were finishing paperwork, standing between the tow truck and Bunch's vehicle, when truck driver Albert J. Lorona, 31, of Yuma plowed into them, crushing them between the cars.

Arizona Department of Public Safety officials said Lorona was taken to the hospital with injuries, and he still hasn't been interviewed by detectives. No charges have been filed. The investigation is ongoing.

According to family and friends at Gault's funeral Thursday, the father of four and Navy veteran was a man with a sense of humor who loved shooting and fishing.

During a slide show, the crowd at the funeral sometimes sniffled and sometimes let out muffled laughs as they remembered Gault.

A woman who said she dispatched Gault to various service calls said "he really did love what he did."

"I know he died doing the one thing he loved," she stood up and said.

Two of Gault's daughters also spoke at the funeral and sobbed as they remembered their dad who liked to tease them and make them laugh.

After the funeral, the procession of tow trucks made its way from Gilbert to Mesa. After the procession, a few trucks escorted Gault back to the funeral home. The rest of the group went on to Gault's favorite restaurant - Hometown Buffet - for a special meal in his memory.

Gilbert police spokesman Sgt. Mark Marino said he had never seen a group of trucks of this size drive in a procession.

"This is the first I've seen of this magnitude," Marino said. "It is a very nice demonstration and nice showing of respect for the tow truck driver that passed."

Joyce Capson, of Robins Towing, who has driven a tow truck for 25 years, said Gault's death emphasizes the need to change the Arizona "Move Over Law" to apply to not just emergency responders, but to tow trucks as well.

"Why don't we matter?" Capson said in a phone interview. "The 'Move Over Law' should apply to (us)."

In 2005, the law was passed to help decrease the likelihood that people driving emergency vehicles and drivers on the side of the road would be killed or injured by passing cars. The law applies to stopped police and emergency vehicles but not to civilian vehicles or tow trucks.

Under the law, drivers who encounter traffic stops by police and other roadside emergencies may be ticketed for not merging into an adjacent lane or reducing their speed when no other lane is available.

Many tow truck drivers at Gault's funeral said that even though the law doesn't apply to them, they want drivers to slow down when they see anyone on the side of the highway. And Burkett asked motorists to remember that tow truck drivers are people, too.

"If we help them get on their way to their families, they need to help us get to ours, too," he said.