Driver is hit and killed
Cops hunt motorist who mowed down MTA bus operator
An MTA bus operator riders knew for his cheerful attitude died of injuries he suffered when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
Oscar Holford, 38, was run down when he crossed Shepherd Ave. at Pitkin Ave. near his home in East New York, Brooklyn, about 10:10 p.m. Friday, cops said.
Police said a white vehicle heading west on Pitkin Ave. slammed into Holford and did not stop. Cops were still hunting for the driver.
Medics rushed Holford to Brookdale University Hospital, where he died Monday. He left behind four children, and was run down just two hours after he celebrated his youngest daughter’s 8th birthday.
“He was very fun and very talkative. He loved life,” said Holford’s ex-wife Lisa Holford, who is mother to three of his children. “I feel like it’s a dream. I’m not believing my kids’ father and my husband is gone.”
Holford worked for 14 years as a bus operator, mostly out of the MTA’s Fresh Pond depot in Queens. He drove afternoon and evening buses on the B26 and B54 routes between Ridgewood and downtown Brooklyn, and was a friendly and familiar face to regular riders.
“He loved the people on those lines,” said Andre Armstrong, the union chairman of the Fresh Pond depot who was friends with Holford. “He was a customer service-oriented person, and he cared very much about the people of New York City. It was his mission to get them where they needed to go.”
Holford grew up in Harlem and raised his children there, but recently moved to East New York.
“I’m just feeling sad,” said Holford’s mother, Bonnie Snider, 70. “We would do everything. We would go to the beach, even just going around the block. He was just lots of fun to be with.”
Armstrong said Holford would never have left someone to die on the street, no matter the circumstances. “It’s just numbing that somebody would leave him there,” he said.
Holford’s family seeks justice for the driver responsible for his death.
“I feel very angry as for as the way it happened,” said Lisa, his ex-wife. “Whoever did this, I want them to come forward because you’ve already did a lot of damage to his kids. Now his kids don’t have a father because you left him there by himself.”