Friends Remember Midtown Scooter Shop Owner As Writer, Activist

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Friends of a Midtown scooter shop owner who was found dead in a home invasion say he put his heart and soul into the shop.

Dan Aiello, 53, was found dead in his Midtown Moped Shop early on Wednesday morning. Aiello lived just above the shop.

"He was gentle, he had a kind soul, he was very open, friendly," said friend Megan Varvais. "This is not the type of thing you would expect to happen to someone like Dan; he was a writer; he was an intellectual; he was an activist."

Sacramento Police announced the arrest of Kyle Fletcher, who is accused of breaking into Aiello's home to burglarize it according to court records and killing Aiello with a belt.

Sabrina Ahrens Gravelle was arrested with Fletcher and is charged with burglary. Police say they found the suspects loading Aiello's belongings into a car.

Varvais said the shop became a passion for Aiello.

"He had told me about his moped shop, and he was really excited that he had his own business going," she said.

But long before opening his shop, she says Aiello was a journalist. They worked together at the California Progress Report. According to his Twitter biography, he also wrote for a number of other publication in Sacramento and in the Bay Area.

"He did a lot of research. He did his own interviews. He was a total perfectionist when it came to his writing," she said.