The MTA driver killed when model Tyson Beckford’s nephew allegedly slammed his bus with a stolen truck was bid farewell on Wednesday by hundreds of mourners in Midtown.
William Pena, 50, died in a horrific crash when his M14 bus was blindsided by the truck, which cops said was stolen by Domonic Whilby, 22.
“He loved the job,” said fellow driver Julio Zayas, referring to the 17 -year veteran. “He was looking forward to retirement.”
Two of Pena’s brothers, Alex Pena, left, and Eriberto Pena wear his MTA work shirts and black arm bands supplied by the MTA in memory of the fallen driver.Photo: Gregory P. Mango
Zayas said he admired Pena so much that he moved his entire family to Hillside, NJ, to be closer to his late friend.
“We moved there because of him,” he said. “This is not easy.”
Several buses sat parked outside the chapel as dozens of colleagues and union officials arrived to stand with Pena’s devastated family and share fond memories of the fallen driver.
“He was a beloved individual,” said John Samuelson, president of the Transport Workers Union. “”The notion that someone stole a car and drove recklessly through the city and killed one of our brother bus operators is absurd.”
Pena was driving his M14 bus across 14th Street in Greenwich Village early Wednesday morning when he was hit by the truck. Whilby had been partying into the wee hours with his famous uncle and a bevy of models.
Samuelson said that Pena’s seat at the Queens Village Bus Depot where he worked out of has been left empty out of respect for his fallen friend.
“The seat where he sat in the swig room at the depot is still empty,” he said. “They won’t sit in his seat as a way of paying homage.”
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