Classmates, teachers honor teen skateboarder fatally struck by SUV

Students at El Dorado High School in Placentia on Monday paid tribute to a 16-year-old boy who was fatally struck by an SUV while skateboarding over the weekend.

Logan Wells, 16, was struck by an SUV on Bastanchury Road near Secretariat Way in Yorba Linda around 4:45 a.m. Sunday, investigators said. He later died at a hospital.

Friends told KTLA-TV Wells was a typical teen who loved skateboarding and wearing Hawaiian shirts.

As the school week began, Wells’ classmates honored him by wearing Hawaiian shirts and bucket hats, another staple of his wardrobe.

“He made a big impact on a lot of people, and I feel like what we’re doing is just half of what he could do for us,” said Robbie Saliam, who was among the students at the school to don a Hawaiian shirt and bucket hat Monday.

Raymond Duran, a friend of Wells, said he would miss his sense of humor.

“He was really funny and he would always make me smile,” Duran said. “It’s going to be hard to know that he’s gone now. It’s just hard to get through it.”

Another student, Brian Cooper, said he was shocked by the teen’s sudden death.

“Going through life, you never expect these things to happen,” Cooper said. “It’s just a big shock.”

One staff member who wore a Hawaiian shirt as a tribute to Wells expressed sadness over his death.

“We’re a family, and you know, you just…it’s sad,” said Michelle Zaldin. “He’s a great kid. Wonderful family. And he’s part of our family.”

Wells was in his second year of advanced video production and was “a promising cinematographer,” according to Rosemary Gladdon, a school district official.

Grief counselors were on campus Monday to help students and staff members, Gladdon said.

An investigation into the collision that killed Wells remained ongoing.

The driver of the vehicle, a 61-year-old man, stopped after the collision and called 911, said Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock.

A witness who saw the driver pull over said he was visibly upset by the collision.

The driver has not been arrested or cited, and sheriff’s investigators said neither alcohol nor speed appeared to be a factor.

A makeshift memorial to the teen was erected Sunday near the scene of the collision.

On the website change.org, friends launched a petition asking the Yorba Linda City Council to build a skate park in Wells’ honor. The petition had received more than 5,700 signatures by Monday evening.

Supporters were promoting the effort on Twitter by using the hashtag #skatepark4logan.