Three weeks ago, bicyclist José Hernandez of St. Paul was struck and injured on a city street by a driver who apparently was texting behind the wheel at the time of the crash.

“I was biking near Summit and Snelling when he called me,” David Fernandez, a fellow bike enthusiast and co-worker of Hernandez’s at the Brasa Rotisserie restaurant on Grand Avenue, recalled Tuesday.

“He said he waved at the woman several times to get her attention before he got hit. He got hurt. His elbow was scraped bad. But he was more hurt that cars stopped, but no one came to his aid,” Fernandez added. “I asked him if he got the license plate, if he went to get X-rays. But he said no. He did not want to make a big deal out of it. That was José. He did not want to bother anyone.”

Then, early Sunday morning, another hit-and-run driver struck Hernandez, 52, at West Seventh Street and Grand Avenue. This time the man described by co-workers as a likable, funny and “very noble” person was left lying unconscious on a Saintly City street with life-threatening injuries. He has not regained consciousness and remained on life support as of this writing, according to co-workers.

“We were told by the doctors that it does not look good,” Fernandez, choking back tears, told me Tuesday. “His spine was smashed. There is no brain activity, but the doctors said they would perform another test to make sure.”

I understand human nature, good, bad and ugly. Self-preservation and survival instincts and saving one’s skin sometimes get in the way of doing the right thing. I can surmise what goes through the mind of a person like this hit-and-run driver, sober or not, who drove away after such an event: “OMG. What did I just do? I’m sorry. Saw him and hit the brakes too late. Should I stop? This will ruin my life. But I don’t think anyone saw this. I took the light, but what was he doing biking at this hour? I can’t stay here. I need to think this through.”

Perhaps this hit-and-run driver has scoured the media coverage in recent days. Perhaps the driver learned that José Hernandez was not some known person of status or pedigree, but a restaurant dishwasher who had no family in town. Perhaps there is not much police attention to this because he was not a somebody.

St. Paul police Sgt. Julie Sam begs to differ. She has been living and breathing this case since it happened. Calling repair shops and dealerships, scouring Craigslist, viewing street videos, waiting for crime lab results, searching for next of kin and hoping someone with a conscience will do the right thing, these things have occupied her time the past few days.

Hernandez, on his way home from work, was biking southbound on Grand Avenue around 12:30 a.m. Sunday when he was struck as he crossed the intersection with West Seventh Street near downtown St. Paul.

The vehicle that struck him, believed to be a 2008 to 2010 sage-green Hyundai Santa Fe, was caught on a surveillance camera traveling westbound on West Seventh past Kellogg Boulevard “at a high rate of speed,” possibly as fast as 50 mph, moments before impact. The speed limit in that area is 30 mph. The vehicle stopped for a few seconds, but then kept going.

Investigators collected “multiple” pieces from the hit-and-run vehicle, including the side passenger mirror, which has yielded clues to the vehicle’s make, likely years of manufacture and color. Hernandez, wearing his helmet, his bike night lights on and crossing the intersection with the green light, “was doing everything he was supposed to be doing when he got clobbered,” Sam told me.

Witnesses, mostly patrons from the nearby Grand Seven Saloon, rushed out to the street and called 911. Hernandez was taken to Regions Hospital in critical condition. Fernandez said doctors prepared him and other friends for the worst. A GoFundMe page was established through the restaurant to defray medical costs and possibly pay for funeral expenses.

Authorities were able to track down and summon two brothers, one residing in Tennessee, the other in Florida, to assist in the identification and other matters once they arrive here. Hernandez’s parents reportedly reside in Guanajuato, a city in central Mexico. Fernandez and others were trying to reach them because they have no phone.

Fernandez, who works as a cashier, met Hernandez more than a year ago when Hernandez landed a job at Brasa. They struck up a friendship, bonded by their love of bicycling.

Both frequently rode together after their day shifts during weekdays. They often stopped between their residences in Minneapolis and St. Paul to talk for a few minutes about their lives and work. They were both conscious of traffic laws and “we used to get annoyed when we stopped at a red light and saw other cyclists run through them,” Fernandez recalled. “I would yell out, ‘You are going to get killed.’”

He said Hernandez, who also worked weekend nights, was wary about the intersection where he was struck. “He said the area there is a triangle and people (motorists) get confused,” Fernandez noted.

Fernandez told Hernandez recently that he was going to give him a fat-tire bike he repaired so he could bike to work during the winter.

“I told him on Thanksgiving Day that I would be willing to bring it over to him,” Fernandez recalled. “He told me that he would pay me back with installments, but that I could wait until (Wednesday of this week) to bring it to him.”

He now plans to sell the bike to help raise money for his friend.

Fernandez, who has gone to visit his friend at the hospital, took time off Monday because he was too emotional to work. He returned Tuesday and broke down in tears at the sight of Hernandez’s bike lock at the restaurant, where the two friends parked their bicycles side by side.

“I hope they find this person,” Fernandez said. “It could have been a family. I looked at him lying in that hospital bed and I saw myself. It could have been me. Unfortunately, it was him. There has to be some sense of justice for him.”

Anyone with any information about this incident should contact St. Paul police Sgt. Julie Sam at 651-266-5727.