Thomas Edward Israel Obituary, Death; – A 34-year-old man riding his bike was found dead after being struck by a vehicle in St. Clair County early Monday morning, and his family is now pleading for the driver to come forward.

“I hope they’re losing sleep at night. I would have stopped. I would have called, at least held his hand or something, so he wasn’t alone,” said the brother of 34-year-old Thomas Israel. “Just turn yourself in. The law is going to get you.“

The crash happened Aug. 18 around 3:30 a.m. on M-29 near Martindale Court in Cottrellville Township.

The St. Clair County Sheriff’s office said Central Dispatch received a call reporting that a man and a bicycle were lying in the roadway, appearing to have been hit by a vehicle. Deputies arrived on the scene along with the Marine City Area Fire Authority and TriHospital EMS, but the victim — identified as Thomas Edward Israel, 34, of St. Clair — was pronounced dead.

His brother, Arthur “AJ” Israel Jr., said the news came as a devastating shock, as they had just been hanging out at his home, having “a heart-to-heart conversation.”

“I woke up, and a detective came over and he told us what happened,” AJ said. “He said, ‘It’s in regards to your brother. He passed away. I just lost it. I didn’t know what to think until we went and ID’d his body. And then I just started doing whatever I could to help find this guy.”

AJ said Thomas loved working, music, and building computers.

He said Thomas worked at Riviera Restaurant in Marine City.

The night before the crash, AJ said Thomas was at his home hanging out, but left on his bike to get cigarettes.

When Thomas didn’t return, AJ said at first, he thought nothing of it.

“Sometimes he’ll just go to sleep, you know. I thought he would come back or something. And then I got the call in the morning, and [police] showed up here and told me what happened.”