Ommatt Cruz, 19, of Staten Island, was “acting as a guide to assist with traffic control” for the reversing machinery operated by his 42-year-old father near the corner of First Avenue and East Seventh Street shortly before 8:40 a.m. Friday, police said.
“When the lift entered the intersection, it struck and knocked down the 19-year-old and drove over him,” the NYPD said.
The shell-shocked father, Victor Cruz, remained at the scene of the gruesome mishap, police sources said.
There are no arrests.
Grieving friends and family streamed “in and out” of the Cruz’ South Street residence for the past two days, a neighbor, Kaitlyn, 23, told The Post.
Rafael Roman, 54, who lives a few doors down from the Cruz family, described father and son as “close.”
Roman added that Ommatt “was either in school or he was with his dad. That’s it.”
“The driver of the crane, I guess he wasn’t hearing him well enough or he wasn’t paying attention and he hit the throttle too hard and the crane went too fast, killing the guy,” Troy Lorenzo, who witnessed the tragic collision, told Spectrum News NY1.
“It’s horrible. I mean obviously for the father to go through what he has to go through now, and to live with what he has to live with, it’s a terrible situation for him and the whole family,” Lorenzo told the media outlet.
“The matter is still under investigation. At this time there doesn’t seem to be any criminality,” an NYPD spokesman said Saturday.
Grieving friends and family streamed “in and out” of the Cruz’ South Street residence for the past two days, a neighbor, Kaitlyn, 23, told The Post.
She was stunned when she heard the news of the freak mishap.
“I was like, ‘No, it can’t be. He can’t kill his own son, like, that’s impossible’…to know that happened is just crazy.”
Kaitlyn said she met and spoke with Ommatt Cruz “a few times” since he moved into the neighborhood a few years ago and described the clan as “a good family.”
Ommatt Cruz was just 19 years old and from Staten Island. Ommatt Cruz/HudlOmmatt was athletic and a member of the Susan Wagner High School junior varsity, according to his Facebook page and Kaitlyn.
He also recently started to ride a motorcycle, she said.
“They would always be out in the summer fixing cars, they would always be together hanging out,” she said about the family.
Rafael Roman, 54, who lives a few doors down from the Cruz family, described father and son as “close” and the two were “always doing something together, whether it was working on cars, working on motorcycles.”
A 19-year-old son was killed by his father driving a crane at 8:40 am on 7th St and First Ave, according to police. FNTV
Ommatt Cruz was “acting as a guide to assist with traffic control” for the reversing cherry picker operated by his 42-year-old father, police said. FNTV
“The matter is still under investigation. At this time there doesn’t seem to be any criminality,” an NYPD spokesman said Saturday. FNTVRoman added that Ommatt “was either in school or he was with his dad. That’s it.”
Roman, who noted Ommatt had a younger brother and sister, can’t believe the close-knit family is now making funeral arrangements for the 19-year-old.
“I can’t – I’m still, I can’t even believe it happened. I really can’t,” he said, adding, “And so close to the holidays too? It’s never going to be the same…I have to go say my condolences.”
