STATEN ISLAND — The Bridge and Tunnel Authority officer struck last year while reopening the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge died on Monday from injuries suffered in the crash, the MTA announced.
Officer Thomas Choi, 62, of Staten Island, was removing traffic barrels to reopen the lower level of the Brooklyn-bound side of the bridge on the morning of Oct. 20, 2013 when a driver struck him, the MTA said. Choi, an 11-year veteran, was the first Bridge and Tunnels officer to die in the line of duty since the authority was established 81 years ago.
“Officer Choi dedicated himself to serving and protecting everyone who travels the bridges and tunnels that unite New York, and all of us at the MTA join in mourning him,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast in a statement. “We send our deepest condolences to his family.”
Choi never regained consciousness, and was initially treated at Staten Island University Hospital then transferred to Seaview Rehabilitation Center for long-term care, the MTA said. He was transferred back to Staten Island University on Monday when he died.
The driver of the car, a 26-year-old woman from Bayonne, N.J., remained on the scene after striking Choi and the NYPD's Department Collision Investigation Squad later determined no criminality in the crash and she wasn't charged, the MTA said.
Choi was survived by his two grown children, Timothy and Tiffany, the MTA said.
