Sammy Freitas remembers Joey

Joey,
I find it very difficult to decide which fond memories to share because every memory I've had with you have been so fond, unique, and exhilarating- just like yourself.

I can't begin to tell you how many nights I anxiously waited for JoeDirt199 to sign online so we could have our teenager talks about everything and anything, which made sense to no one but somehow you always understood.

I always thought our sneaky sisters were up to no good, but I realize why they were. You always wore a smile (sometimes cheesy =), even in the most unpleasant situations. You were the life of the party and would risk embarrassment for a good time (No, no... your Superman dance at Adri's wedding was amazing, I promise! I'm just jealous I can't do it).

Speaking of embarrassment...
You were always there to pick me up when I would fall. Literally...when I went flying off the barstool and landed onto the floor of the infamous V.I. bar. Who was there for my rescue? Joey P!

The phrase " Some of God's greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers" may mean different things to different people. I can tell you for me it means countless concerts and phone calls from my mom and sister as they karaoke'd to your 21st birthday hit list CD in our backyard. That's right, just my mom and my sister, no one else was there! My mom is still convinced it should have been sold in stores because everyone was missing out on such an amazing thing.

Now the amazing thing we are missing out on is you.

I really hope God answers our prayers for justice, because He already has taken you as the greatest gift.

Love you and miss you Joey

Tony Conte remembers Joey

To the Pinasco Family, I am very deeply saddened and sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. Know that there are many people who will support you if you need it and try to be strong.

An Escalon kid myself, I attended high school with Joey. I had several classes with him throughout those four years and I will definitely remember him as a funny, easygoing, and laid back guy. I remember him especially from our econ and civics classes senior year -- he would joke and mess with the teachers pretty often, get all into "Eye of the Tiger" before tests. It was great. I used to draw portraits in high school, and he would always joke with me that I "learned from the best" and "owed him for those drawing classes." After we graduated, I moved away and lost contact with him. The last time I saw Joey was months ago when I ran into him in line at the bank. Our conversation was short, a quick catch up, but I was surprised when he referenced our high school conversations after all this time and said something along the lines of, "are you gonna take out the money for those drawing lessons now? I'll forward you to collections." We laughed pretty hard at that. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get to know Joey as well as others have, but I can say that knowing him for as much as I did was enough to leave an impression and an impact on me. God bless you man, watch over your family and friends. You will not be forgotten.


-Tony Conte

Sarah Machado remembers Joey

I have known the Pinasco family for some time now, probably a good 12 13 some odd years. Joey and I went to elementary school together at Collegeville. We were instantly buds from the first time we met. It seems we were always spending time together in "time out". The memory that has always stayed with me was in the 5th grade when I broke his thumb. I did not mean to!! But we were out playing football in the morning before school started. Kyle Pearson was throwing the ball and nobody caught it so Joey and I ran after it as fast as we could, he was gaining on me I was running as fast as I could then I realized he was going in for a dive so I was like shoot I don't want him to get it! So I decided to kick the ball, by the time me foot hit the ball he had already dove for it and instantly was rolling on the ground holding his hand saying "you got me! you got me!" ....I didn't know I had kicked his hand I thought he was kidding so I told him to stop being a little girl and get up. But then I realized I had kicked his hand when he rolled back over tears were in his eyes. I felt so bad so I walked with him up to the office and Toni came to pick him up.....later that day when he came back after lunch, we were learning about the presidents I remember, he came into the classroom and looked straight at me then looked down at his wrist then back at me. I had broken his thumb. I felt so bad after that. He was mad for awhile but got over it fast by the next morning we were out at the playground playing freeze tag. I will never forget that. A few months had gone by then it was close to Valentines day, and he had asked me to be his Valentine, knowing I didn't like chocolate he had brought me some Starburst because that was my favorite candy. Joey was the most loving person. But not all the time, he used to sit behind me in the 5th grade and was always pulling on my hair and teasing me. The more recent memories I have of joey would be us both on our way to work stopping at Collegeville market in the morning on our way work. We would find ourselves talking and 20 minutes had gone by then oh shoot gotta go to work before dad gets mad we would both say, we both worked for our family business and would talk about how much we loved it. So sorry Joe if I ever made him late! But Murphy Mariposa and Jacktone, we have passed each other on those roads so many times and it is not going to be the same. One time Joey had seen me and waved but I didn't see him and the next time I saw him he was like "hey what the heck you didn't wave to me yesterday I saw you!" I told him I didn't see him and I would look for him on the roads. A few days later I see him and am getting prepared to wave and all of a sudden his window rolls down and he hangs out it waving like a crazy person then calls me saying "did you see me this time!!!??" Haha yes Joey I happened to notice some crazy guy hanging out his truck waving. And from then on that's what he would do when he passed me. I am going to miss that so much. I could keep going on and on but I wont. So Joey thank you so much for all the laughs and memories.....and I am sorry for breaking your thumb! God bless the Pinasco family and I pray that God gives you the strength to get through this. I love you guys always and forever.

-Sarah Machado

Adriana remembers her brother Joey

My Brother Joey

My brother was the most amazing young man I know. He had the biggest heart and was loved by all who knew him. This is not a speech, story, or enhanced. This was written and is being said in honor of my brother for everyone to hear the truth about Joey P.

I just recently was married in March and my brother Joey fortunately got up and said an amazing speech for me and my husband, and this is the least I can do for him. I will never be able to see my brother get married, have a family, or to just give him a hug. My brother spoke in his speech about my husband and how he would give anyone the shirt off his back. Well the reason that characteristic touched Joey was because that is exactly how he was. So very caring... he had so many friends as we can all see, who he touched with his truly special personality that was like no other.

Joey and I had a love, hate relationship. We teased, tormented, and at times were hard on one another. But I never doubted his love for me and I know he knew mine for him because I would always tease him and say I LOVE YOU DO DO. Little Do do was my nick name for my younger brother Joey but as I know realize he wasn't as young as I treated him. He was growing up and becoming an amazing, strong, intelligent young man. He was always there when I needed him just the other weekend he came into Stockton to water my plants and feed my dog while we were out of town, but he ended up taking my dog with him for the weekend so he wouldn't be lonely. Not to mention Joey gave me my dog and I will never forget the day he brought it home, not how excited I was but how excited Joey was to surprise me with my new puppy he had gotten from his best friend Blake. I know Joey looked up to me for approval and I wish I could tell him now how much I did approve. How honest, hardworking, and loving I thought he was.
I was constantly telling him to settle down, and grow up because he was such a ladies man! But he would always tell me that I was just jealous and that he has a lot of friends...and that he was young and didn't need a girlfriend. The truth is I was jealous, of his friends, his fun memories and his social skills. He would always tell me he could handle anything.

What I know now is that Joey wasn't supposed to grow up. Which is very hard to accept and I haven't... and probably never will.

I wanted you to all know what Joey thought of himself so I found a blog he had written and I would like to read it:
the name they gave me was Joseph Anthony Pinasco but every1 calls me Joe, Joey, or Joey P except for Cass and Alicia who i am known to them by another name but that's another story, I grew up out in the sticks in Escalon & I wouldn't want it any other way. I love my family they are everything to me, I've got 3 sisters so any guy wants to treat them bad will have to deal with me the way the Italian Mob man would deal with it. I like to go out on weekends drink a few brews with the boys and making priceless memories. I love to ride dirt bikes, snow board, go to the gym, work on cars & trucks, hunt, fish, play video games and a lil poker...well just gambling in general. I work for our family business its out of Stockton its called PINASCO MECHANICAL CONTRACTORS but one day plan on running the business with my cousins. Im just a down to earth dude don't give a shit about much but havin fun and makin a living but to sum everything up about me im Italian and thats pretty much all i should have to say.

I would like to end with a quote from Joey:...."I'm Joey P everybody LOVES me".......................................and everyone did.

Joey's father remembers his son

Joey's Dad

My son that I shall never see or talk to again was taken from us for what ever reason I hope the truth shall come forward. The last time I spoke to Joe was as he was walking out the door to visit his friends for a Saturday evening out.

Joey was just starting his adulthood in life. I knew Joey as a father, different than his friends did. Joey was really respectful to me and at times felt as if I never acknowledged the good things that he did. Emotions from a father to a son at times are very hard to express. I wish I could have hugged him more and loved him in a way he understood. All I have left of my son are pictures, memories, smells of his room, his clothes, his shoes, that I cherish like nothing else. The stories told by his friends, parents of his friends, cousins, people who crossed paths with Joey in his short life are how I can begin to know the life of my son that I never knew. He touched and enlightened the lives of so many people. The past few days since this tragic event has been like nightmare that I will never awake from. I do not seek sympathy and only want to say that he was my son, he did not deserve the treatment he took by people that did not know him. I pray that justice will prevail.

I love you Joey, my son.

Annie Bristow remembers Joey

Joey Pinasco was my cousin and I will always be proud to refer to him as family. I grew up being friends with Adriana because we are so close in age. And of course, Joey was always there doing whatever it was we did. I remember back when we were kids playing basketball, swinging in the swing, and playing in the spa at the house on Canterbury. I also remember going to the water slides and even Sherwood pool with them. Many birthdays, every holiday, picnics of all sorts, and many weddings bring back memories of Joey.

One of my favorite memories which I will always cherish was from his twenty-first birthday party. It was time for us to leave and Joey was in a big group with his buddies. I wished him another happy birthday and went to shake his hand so that I did not embarrass him in front of his friends. He then grabbed me and gave me a really great hug. It surprised me a little because sometimes, especially amongst peers, young guys tend to act macho, but not Joey.

I came to the realization today that from now on every family function we attend will be without Joey's presence. That saddens me greatly because his smile alone had a way to lift your spirit. On the other hand, I am secure in knowing that Joey is in Heaven watching down on us all. And that even from Heaven he will protect his sisters and his mom and dad too. To aunt Toni, uncle Joe, Adri, Virginia, and Michelle, I am so sorry that you are all feeling such pain. Thank you Joey having such a large impact on our lives and for reminding us to live everyday as if it were our last. We miss you and we love you very much.

Annie Bristow

George and Suzy Lucas send love

Joe and Toni and girls and the entire Pinasco family,
We wanted to share our thoughts and support with you all. Our hearts are broken for you and you are in our prayers. We did not know Joey, but according to our son Daniel's friends that knew him he was a great guy who was "chill". Joe and Toni-you are two of my favorite people from St. Mary's and I know that Joey must have been an awesome combination of you both. And knowing or meeting the elder Pinasco's over the years, George and I have always had a special place in hearts for Fred, Tom, John and Joey and for the wives we know-dear Debbie and Toni. We wanted to make contact with you, the family and hope this is a good venue for that. We love the Pinasco's and send our prayers and full support. God Bless.

Love, Suzi (Lechich) and George Lucas

Marian Remembers Joey

Joey I just want you to know that I will miss you so much. This is my last goodbye and it's going to be super hard... You were always making me laugh, I never saw you hurt anyone. I remember the first nite I met you. Anthony, Stephanie, Antoinette and me were in Pismo and you came up to me and introduced yourself. I was like wow that guy is really cute! Lol and right away we clicked! We were laughing about the stupidest things.. I never would have thought we would become close friends and from then on you called me "Mary Jane" instead of Marian. We had so much fun in Pismo, I'll never forget that weekend, especially now. It is deep in my memory.. I also remember one night we went to downtown and we were at Fatcat.. Lol we were at the bar upstairs and the DJ was playing rap music but you were trying to make me laugh cuz I wasnt having fun, so you started square dancing! I'm not gonna lie, I was really embarrased! Haha But that's how awesome of a person you are! You knew i wasn't having a good night so you were trying to make me smile.. And I love you for that Joey! Unfortunately the last time I saw you was at L.A.C. I wish I had spent more time with you there.. but for the time that we did hang out, I had so much fun! You made me smile as usual! Joey, not one person can say something bad about you, because it doesn't exist. You were an amazing person! I am so glad I met you.. Thanks for being a good friend. What happened to you wasn't fair Joey.. But like everyone says, God has a reason for everything.. I'm not sure what the reason for taking away such an amazing person was, but Heaven has an angel now.. Please watch over all of us down here.. Keep us strong because we definitely need it now.. Now more than ever. We love you Joey Pinasco, and we will NEVER forget! May you Rest in Peace
Marian

Ryan Morris remembers Joey

I've only known Joey for a few years having worked for Pinasco for 14 years,but the years I did spend with Joey were cool ones. He always had a smile and he had the crew of Pinasco's put down mode on,you know the kind of thing when guys who work together put each other down and all laugh about it. He was friends with my drummer Kyle Cobb who I met in Reno, but who grew up with Joey. Joey you will be missed,and never forgotten,never.....Ryan Morris

Family and Friends

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Joey's Blog

Please be respectful. We would like this site to be an arena for the people that knew Joey to be able to express their experiences with him. We are trying to paint a picture of the person that Joey was through the words of the people that knew him.

Thank you and God bless you.

Stream of Consciousness

What do you do when you hear that a heinous thing has happened in your family? Your first initial reaction is utter shock that it is even real. Once the shock starts to wear off the anger begins. I am in the anger stage of my grieving process. I sit and stew on the events that transpired and ask myself why in world this is happening. The more I stew the more anger that is built up inside of me. I want to love and support my grieving family. I know that this anger is only temporary and the energy is better spent positively than negatively. What do you do though? I tried to going to the canal by my house, happens to be the most rural area that I have access to as a city dweller, listening to good fight music and physically exerting myself by shaving time off of my 10K pace. This works for small moments, but still the thought lingers that I will never have the Italian Gardeners Picnic, or a Monday night IAC dinner, or an Easter Sunday in Sutter Creek with my cousin.
Easter Sunday is an important family get together for the Pinasco’s. When I say family get together, there are upwards of 150 family members that attend, and they are all family in some way or another. We used to go and hike down to whatever creek it was, at the old spot for you family members reading this, and skip rocks in the creek. We might have done a little more than skip rocks, mischief follows young curious boys, but Joey was one of the little guys, along with my brothers, that were members of the group of little tag-a-longs. This of course was more of a pain in the rear for us much more mature and older folk than it was a blessing, so we thought. The little guys there cramped our style, if you know what I mean. They were ever there though.
Annual Gardener’s dinners at the Growers Hall, summers in Santa Cruz. As we grew older the band of 14 some odd cousins, I guess I could name them off to get a count, but I won’t bore you with names. 14 some odd is going to be the number. So, with 14 some odd cousins that continue to grow older in a tight nit family, we became more like brothers and sisters than merely cousins. Joey had fast worked his way into the brotherhood of the older group. The younger Pinasco’s had worked from the kiddy table and were boldly taking seats at the adults table. This could be because the kiddy table was being inhabited by another generation of Pinasco’s, Bulleri’s, Barth’s, Barro’s, and Bristow’s midgets, or that the youngsters of old were now full fledged peers.
Here lately, Joey began coming to the monthly Italian functions with our group. These are the times that I will choose to remember him by. Lively, witty, loyal, respectful. Deep conversations regarding our dreams and aspirations with the family business. Passion driven opinions on how good or bad the food was. Cramming three people, completely legal might I add, in my Toyota Tacoma extended cab and making the trip to Cherryland from Willow St. Talking about the love and respect that our family has for one another and appreciating the discipline that was taught to us by our fathers. He had an uncanny ability to entertain. The elders of the club always inquired about when he would officially join the club.
You know Joey, you are going to be missed by this family. Your name will always be gold in our eyes. Your exit from this life just means that the big guy has some pertinent business that could only be taken care of by you. Take care of business man, we will hold it down, down here.

Joey Pinasco Obituary

Joseph Anthony Pinasco

January 19, 1987 - August 24, 2008

Joseph Anthony Pinasco, 21, was born January 19, 1987 in Stockton, CA and was killed by the CHP on Sunday morning, August 24, 2008. Joey loved life, his family, and his friends. He was a country boy who enjoyed country music and was a great dancer. Joey also spent time snowboarding, hunting, fishing, camping and playing poker and video games with his buddies. Joey loved baseball and played the game his whole life. He was a pitcher at Escalon High School and continued to play summer softball with his brother-in-law and friends on the Bockman Woody team. Joey grew up in Escalon and graduated from Escalon High School in 2005. From there he went on to follow in his father Joe's footsteps. He worked as an apprentice fire sprinkler pipe fitter (Local 669) for his family business, Pinasco Plumbing, aka Pinasco Mechanical Contractors. Joey truly was a special person that everyone thought the world of. He cared so much about everyone. Joey was very close to his sisters and was the ultimate big brother. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

He is survived by his father, Joe Pinasco; his mother Toni Pinasco; sisters, Adriana, Virginia and Michelle; brother-in-law John Lewis, his Noni, Lena Pinasco; grandfather Tony Moreira, as well as a long list of aunts, uncles and cousins, who all loved him dearly.

Family and friends are invited to attend a Rosary Service, Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, 19401 E. Hwy 120, Escalon, CA. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Patrick's Church on Friday, August 29, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. There will be visitation at the DeYoung Memorial Chapel, 601 N. California St., Stockton, CA, Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Burial will be at the San Joaquin Catholic Cemetery, Stockton, CA.

Family suggests memorial contributions in Joey's memory be made to the Joey Pinasco Memorial Scholarship Fund, 1528 Yosemite Ave., Escalon, CA 95320, Attn: Lori Lippincott. Online guest book at deyoungmemorialchapel.com

CHP - License to Kill

License To Kill
CHP – California Highway Patrol – who are they and what are they trained to do? Murder is what I see, with a coverup. Joseph Anthony Pinasco, a vital, loving, kind generous, and faithful young man was shot to death early Sunday morning for no good reason. He was only 21 years old.
Joey was a loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend. His life ended in an unnecessary barrage of gunfire that looked like war zone. Why? What would cause 2 California Highway Patrol officers in one car to empty their guns into him? Ten year veterans should have known better. He wasn’t a criminal and had never, ever been in trouble with the law.
CHP – with computers in your car – run the license plate, meet him at home, ticket him, but don’t kill him. Joey’s home was only two minutes away across the corn field. An eyewitness, the owner of the fence Joey wrecked into, said his truck never left from the moment of impact because his headlights blared right straight into their bedroom. They could hear the wheels spinning from Joey’s truck. Then they heard “Stop, stop” and 2 seconds later a barrage of bullets. Silence fell again and they looked out. Joey’s wheels were still spinning, truck not moving, and another round of bullets were fired into his truck. His wheels were still spinning, the truck was stuck in a ditch and hammered into a pipe fence.
CHP had to reach in and turn off Joey’s truck. It was the CHP who moved towards Joey, not Joey towards the CHP. He was stuck in a ditch – hammered into a fence. His life ended. A tragedy that should have never happened. He was only 21 years old. Joseph Anthony Pinasco was murdered and to cover it up the officers said he tried to run them down. CHP – License to Kill.
Heartbroken forever,
Joey’s Aunt Debbie Pinasco