Police Looking for Hit-and-Run Driver in Death of Berkmar High Student

Regular traffic rolled Thursday morning just after sunrise over the macabre orange paint that outlined where the body of 17-year-old Agustin Cortes ended up on Pleasant Hill Road Tuesday night, the victim of a hit-and-run driver.

Reports say he was found with his skateboard and iPod on the Pleasant Hill pavement near the intersection with Gwinnett Place Drive around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

It's a dark intersection at night, and, according to police, Cortes was wearing blue jeans, a black hooded jacket and a red knit cap.

Also Thursday morning, just four miles east of the orange markings, on the same stretch of pavement, Berkmar High School students were finding out about Cortes' death at the hands of a careless driver, who has yet to be apprehended.

Grief counselors were on hand to help students deal with the pain, in the classes Cortes attended, as well as for the rest of the student body.

There were no comments from students or teachers Thursday morning. Jorge Quintana, director of media relations for Gwinnett County Public Schools, said there wouldn't be a comment from the school system, either, "out of respect for the family."

Inside the school, students reportedly cried and signed long paper murals expressing their love for their classmate.

Police have vague witness accounts of the incident — it was a tan or brown vehicle with a license plate that included the numbers "555."

Police weren't able to identify Cortes until Wednesday evening because he had no personal information on him when he died at Gwinnett Medical Center.

The Lawrenceville teen was struck on Pleasant Hill Road in front of the Panda Express on one side of the road and the Red Lobster on the other. Police say Cortes was hit in the roadway, but he was not in the crosswalk. It is unclear why he was in the road.

The vehicle was westbound, struck the teen, and kept going.

Gwinnett Police continues its investigation, and asks that anyone with information on the vehicle or driver should call the Accident Investigation Unit Tip Line at 770-338-7430, extension 5670.

Lilburn Patch correspondent Kelly Petty contributed to this article.