Pedestrian in crash fights for his life

WEST SENECA, N.Y. (WIVB) - News 4 now knows the name of the person struck as he was apparently walking in middle of Transit Road Monday night. He's 29-year-old Justin Buchholtz of Cheektowaga, the included picture is from his Myspace page. He's fighting for his life right now.

West Seneca Police recreated the accident scene on Transit Road between Clinton and French in hopes of finding out why Buchholtz was walking in the southbound passing lane of traffic.

He was struck around 11:30 p.m. Monday by an SUV driven by a woman from Elma.

Police say she pulled over immediately and called 911 and at this point she's not facing any charges. Neighbors who live along Transit say they see people walking in the road all the time when the sidewalks are covered in snow, as they are right now.

Neighbor John Mullett said, "I got snow on my sidewalk. I can't shovel it. It's almost impossible to keep them clean. They want Transit Road clean but they've got to push the snow someplace."

West Seneca Police Lt. Dave Szmania said, "We're just going to keep going with the investigation and hopefully be able to talk to him and find out why he was in the middle of the roadway. Where he was coming from. Where he was going to."

Police say Buchholtz suffered a skull fracture and other serious injuries, and was rushed to South Buffalo Mercy Hospital and then transferred to ECMC. He's now listed in critical condition.