The rules at the Moraga skateboard park say "helmets required". Many, perhaps most, don't follow the rule. Could we have a similar accident unless we start enforcing the rules? Pete Williams

Helmet? It doesn't look like any of his homies are wearing one.

RIP dude. Condolences to the family

Is this the one where they go down the hills on long skateboards?

Lance, thank you so much for this article! The more people we can get talking about this the better. Tucker was an amazing friend and I feel there is no better way to mourn him than to create something he would have loved.

So sorry Lil Bro.

One of these young men flashed past us on our street one day last summer. I'll admit my first thought was "accident waiting to happen" but I was saddened to hear that this young man had died. Our best wishes to his family

TuckerFOREVERLasting. I will carry the memories with me forever and cherish that goofy, smile that I was fortunate to experience more than a lot of people. REST IN POWER THACKS <3

RIP Tucker. You were a loving person to my "Special Ed" students always! I will always remember the smile on your face that you would greet me with everyday. My heart goes out to your family and brother. You will be missed by many. As for building a skatepark memorial...I am all for it! What a great way to remember someone who has touched so many lives and in the thing he most loved to do!

like Mark said all this helmet/ skatepark rules are so irrelevant. my homie was in the streets doin what he loved/ did everyday although this is a horrible event you gotta admire that! we love and miss tucker so much and shouts out to the WHOLE Creek Park crew wish you guys could have had a chance to say what you wanted and hopefully this name change comes through for one of the gnarliest skaters in our community with a style none could duplicate One Love T hacks!

How did it happen??? Hopefully someone was with him at the time.

How awful. Condolences to his family.

Yes, name the WC Skate Park after him. It is a fitting memorial.

City of Walnut Creek, are you listening?

Name the WC skate park after him so he will be remembered forever.

The city of walnut creek has never done anything for us at the skatepark. example: my friend johnny tried to get a plaque for tucker and the lady he spoke to (who worked for the city) was completely rude and said it would be expensive (probably thought we couldnt afford it) and didnt even give us any contact info! (wish i could have gotten her name..she needs to be fired! Well here's some news for you.. walnut creek did a good thing in building the skatepark because it has brought together so many good people, all skaters, rollerbladers, scooterers, and bikers alike. With tuckers sudden unfortunate death i can tell you that i saw many people in his honor come down and pay tribute that i havent seen at the skatepark in weeks, maybe months/years. This skatepark is unlike any around the area because we're all friends. It's amazing what a skatepark can do for the community. (little does the city know..)

As the mother of a skateboarder I feel for her a terrible tragedy to lose her son. This is the second person in 5 years I have heard about who went down a steep hill without a helmet and died. I am always adamant that my son wear a helmet even though it's not "cool". Being alive is cool boys.

Just adding to the support. Tucker will always be remembered regardless if this happens it would just be an amazing thing to do in his honor and comfort a lot of us who miss and love him so much. Walnut Creek may not listen to one of us but they will have to listen to thousands of us!! tuckereverlasting <3

Did he just fall? Hit something? Hit BY something?

That is far too young. But arent' they also too young to be drinking that beer in the front there?

I agree with Kenny Tuckerman. I wish to to the family my deepest heartfelt condolences. Please try and find comfort in this difficult deserving time, as hard as it may feel.

Please help us out in honoring Tucker by joining the site and signing our petition!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/TuckerHacking/
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=524017114#!/events/349814338376200/

As a family who has their name on the donors bronze plaque at the Skatepark-

Yes, honor Tucker with his name on the skatepark. It's very important to the skating community here. I hear the teens discussing it all the time, and it would show everyone that this City Council is actually listening to them.

Very sad indeed!
Skateboarding is inherently dangerous.
And folks complain about a bunch of off-lead dogs!
Priorities folks.

It is pretty plain to see there is a community that has sprung up around the skateparks and that's fine, but I also see evidence of some graffiti, some underage drinking and risky behavior (hey, that's fine too, just don't hurt anyone else or expect me to pay your medical or insurance bills). If naming this park after this young man is important to his community, costs nothing to everyone else and hopefully instills some pride of place that would make others keep it up, it sounds like a fine idea.

I think it's a great idea. My condolences to Tucker's friends and family.

@Brad, I saw that as well and I agree with you.

Your vote doesnt mean anything to us pacman. this is going to happen
You're another ignorant person who see's graffiti as a negative aspect. I'm sure if you saw the canvassed graffiti with tucker's name hanging at the skatepark you would think it was atrocious. We dont ask the city to paint over our graffiti. I'm glad they do, because most of the time theyre someones tag alias or profanity. But this was different. We lost a soul and a brother at the skatepark and wanted to remember him. Do you honestly believe underage drinking occurs daily at the skatepark? Just by you mentioning negative stereotypes about skateboarders means you arent a skateboarder. So have some respect and a bit more knowledge before you judge us. Those photographs weren't supposed to further help our cause, that's what the petition is for. The photographs were for the friends at the skatepark in remembering a shredder. Your vote may be a NO, but when it comes down to it actually happening i bet that you won't even vote. Regardless, your vote is useless to us and the community. The skatepark will be named after him. I guarantee it.

Another note for you mr pacman,

the city blows enough money already on useless bull crap such as neimen marcus, new parking garages, and opening more bars so that more people from baypoint can come out and beat up people. Fixing graffiti should be the last thing on your mind when you're talking about the cities/YOUR money.

from contracostatimes:

regarding the bar problem in walnut creek:

"Other council members are wary of spending more than $300,000 a year for two new officers and say it needs to be analyzed.
"I am having a problem reconciling that for nine or 10 bars, we would invest $600,000 of the taxpayers' money towards that," Silva said."

Hmm. for $300,000 of OUR money we're going to pay for 2 new cops. How much does it cost to fix grafitti? How much would it cost to rename the park? Bet you voted for silva. Before you cry about petty money think about the bigger picture.

A little off topic but if the city gave me the paint I'd buff out graffiti for free. I HATE that stuff!!

How about a memorial mural or sorts? I'm all for public art as long as it doesn't get defaced.

CJ, that comment is really below the belt. I know plenty of very good kids, who are doing well at Las Lomas and DVC, who have NEVER been arrested nor have gotten into any trouble, who spend time at the skatepark. Your broad brush of these kids shows the type of prejudging that goes on regarding skateboarders. I'm a property taxpayer in this town, and I'd much rather have monies spent on a skate park memorial than watch our tax dollars go down the drain with all the boozing which has been plaguing our community for way too long. My son is an avid skateboarder, has never been arrested, has a job, goes to school and spends plenty of time at the skatepark. Your blanket condemnation of these kids is inappropriate.

Let me explain what got a few of us riled up here. We as a community built a skate park. It has in fact been defaced and as documented in the photos above, become a hangout do to undesirable activities by some measurable percentage of its users. It's frustrating to those of us that remember riding skateboards (without helmets) before any of these kids were born that some of them have tarnished this gift provided to them by the community.

Judging from the photo above, it appears that the group represented in the photos is now expecting us to grant them a memorial to their friend. They (at least Mr. Van Damme) become incensed and beligerant when they haven't received blind compliance to their "demands" from the City staff or readers here.

Of course not every kid that has ever ridden a skateboard is a miscreant. I'd even hope that not everyone in the group photo reached into those cases of beer or are the ones I've seen smoking dope at the picnic tables or chasing younger skateboarders out of the park. I can even recognize that young people (like Mr. Van Damme) aren't prepared to deal with grief and may stumble in their reactions to the situation.

I will say that poor behavior at the skate park, in dealing with others, etc. is a lousy way to start the conversation and has soured my support for their proposal. Perhaps an effort to clean up the place and their actions might yield a more favorable response. C'mon Mr. Van Damme (and others), prove me wrong.

I want everyone with an opinion on this to understand that to say our situation as simply as possible, we are trying to take something tragic that occurred in our lives and do something creative and constructive for the person we adored who died.
If anyone read the CCTimes article, Tucker was going to school to become a 8th grade teacher because he wanted to steer youth into a positive direction. He was obviously projecting his dream onto those at the skatepark, making himself a role model for the young teens and the choices they would make in their lives.
Why does so much negativity have to be involved in this issue?
Yes, this is another tragic story and reason that you can take your child aside and show them why it is so important to wear a helmet but he was a son, brother and friend, a inspirational human being who we believe deserves recognition.
As I told members of the city, the graffiti at the skatepark is an outlet for those of his friend to mourn him. Illegal? Yes. So what better way to cease the graffiti at the park then to have it renamed and show those at the skatepark that Tucker has been honored.
Everyone who is being negative, this is a human being's life you are talking about whose friends and family will be seeing this. Please if you have nothing but negativity to bring to this issue please remain silent, we have had enough of it by the first person.
For those who support, thank you and know you are part of a great community effort.

Well said, Lauren. Tucker was a fine young man, one most of us would have been proud to have as our own son. Naming the skate park after him would be wonderful.

My son died 5 1/2 years ago and I am the Chapter Leader of The Compassionate Friends of Contra Costa County which is a nonprofit that supports parents of children who have died. Naming the skate board park will be a wonderful tribute to Tucker but there will be plenty of time to work on that endeavor. Right now the family needs your support. The death of a child is the most horrific thing that can happen to a family. It changes your life forever so please focus all your energies right now on being present for the family and surrounding them with your love of Tucker. It is so easy to say how all this could of been prevented but believe me when I say the guilt that parents feel when their child dies is overwhelming so please just put your arms around this family and just listen to them talk about their son and tell them how sorry you are and how much you will miss Tucker. That's what they need right now.

One, stop BLINDLY throwing around words like "vandalism" and "underage drinking". The guys were commemorating Tucker's life by putting his name on the skatepark. And it's not advisable, especially when you're an adult, to speak from a place of ignorance; just because Tucker wasn't 21, doesn't mean none of his friends are either. I happen to know a lot of them are 21+.

Two, I'm sure if Tucker's funeral had passed already, he'd be rolling over in his grave. I'm also guessing he'd want his friends celebrating his life and remembering him in this way, rather than being unnecessarily frigid and losing sight of what we really should be focusing on, and that's his life, and passing. In other words, his friends know this is what he would have wanted. So if you weren't a friend, might wanna bite your tongue.

Lastly, if you didn't know Tucker, and don't know his friends, you should stop commenting and introducing animosity during a time when people are grieving. All they want is for the skatepark to be named after him. If that makes you burn with rage, go somewhere else and cry about it.

My condolences to the family during this tough time. Perhaps the skateboarding community should vow to wear their helmets from now on, in honor of Tucker, so his death is not in vain. There should be some "self-policing" among themselves, to enforce this. For the younger skateboarders, parents should attempt to use logic to get them to wear their helmets. If my kid was old enough to skateboard and it became a hobby of his, I would say something like "You want to make sure you can have all this great fun for a long time, so wear your helmet. If you get a head injury, you won't be able to do it anymore. Deal?"

Memorial tree? Get his friends together and get enough money for a city approved tree to be planted near the park, perhaps with a plaque or marker with his name... might be easier than renaming the park.

I'm not sure why it would be easier to rename a tree than the park. The same plaque which would go on the tree could also fit on the skatepark, no? And couldn't folks raise the money for the plaque without the city being involved financially? What does 'Friends of the Skatepark' say in this matter? Their fundraising and public awareness made the skatepark happen, if memory serves. They would have a rough idea about how much a plaque would cost for the skatepark, correct?

Hey Mark Smallhoover, pretty lame excuse. Skateboarders don't like wearing helmets in the same way swimmers don't like to wear floaties? How many times in the last 5 years was a recreational swimmer, purposely swimming in the way a skateboarder is purposely boarding for practice/tricks, killed because they drowned without floaties? The answer is ZERO. Skateboarding is inherently dangerous and these kids that think they are invincible and too cool for protective equipment are dying every year. No, we can't make them wear the equipment. Ultimately it's up to each individual boarder. I know of at least one that if you were able to ask would like a do-over. It's a tragedy and one that unfortunately will be repeated over and over again. Personally, I think the city should CLOSE the park. As a tax payer I wouldn't want the liability because ultimately lawsuits are going to file. A family member is going to sue the city because the city wasn't vigilant enough in forcing their loved one to wear the protective helmet he purposely wouldn't wear because it wasn't cool to wear one. Yes, unfortunately the only answer to eliminate broken bones and lives is to close the park. Put a remembrance placque up for sure in his memory, but close the park. The city needs to save lives and prevent tragedies like this, not allow them to possibly happen over and over. Just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Another re-action-ary response to people enjoying themselves! These folks would have us all cocooned in bubblewrap, cowering in our attics for fear of the dangerous world.
Society maybe has the responsibility to inform citizens of potential danger (road signs) but certainly not the job of eliminating them all. Where's the fun in that?

LOL It doesn't take MORE government to protect the idiots from themselves. Enforvce the laws on the books as is. If the idiots don't want to follow the rules and put the city's coffers in jeopardy then fill in the skate park and make it a nice huge lawn. You're "less government" argument is a red herring. I don't expect the goverment to "hold everyone's hands", just the idiots that need protection from themselves as they are the ones that will put you and I in danger as they have no care for themselves.

Rest IN Peace Tucker. Name the skatepark after him, its only right...

What's the current status of this?