After putting sons through college in Mexico by selling sweet nuts for decades, Chicago vendor killed by car fleeing police: 'He never returned home'
CHICAGO — The same table Jose Almanza used to sell his homemade garapiñados — caramelized peanuts and pecans — outside a restaurant in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood for more than 25 years now is adorned with flowers and votive candles.
Almanza, 67, known as “el señor de los cacahuates,” (“the man who sells peanuts”), died three days after he was run over by a car pursued by Chicago police the night of Aug. 2, according to police spokeswoman Kellie Bartoli. Now, after a memorial service in Chicago, his family is hoping to be able to send his body back to his birthplace to be buried.
“He leaves a great void in our lives, but I’m at peace because he was a good man and people seem to have noticed that,” said his wife, Maria Ruiz, who said she’s found the strength to deal with Almanza’s death through prayer.
“He made a lot of sacrifices for me and for my sons, but he never returned home, to Mexico, to see them again,” she said.
