Prosecutor: DeCamp bus hit, killed Israeli woman in Montclair

An overcast, rainy Sunday provided a dreary backdrop at Grove Street and Mount Hebron Road, the day after a woman was killed near this location.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino and Montclair Police Chief Todd Conforti identified the victim as Maya Moar, a 26-year-old au pair from Holon, Israel, who was working for a Montclair family.

Laurino and Conforti stated that, based on the preliminary investigation, Moar was struck by a DeCamp bus as she exited the vehicle at approximately 6 p.m.

According to the law enforcement officials, the bus did not stop.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:48 p.m. Saturday, according to Conforti and Laurino.

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office and the Montclair Police Department are leading the investigation, which is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Essex County Prosecutor's tips line at 1-877-TIPS -4EC.

DeCamp is a private bus company headquartered in Montclair. A message left at the DeCamp office was not returned for comment.

Residents said they were saddened, but not surprised, about a pedestrian being killed near the intersection of Grove and Mount Hebron near the Immaculate Conception Cemetery.

The intersection is marked by a concrete island, which separates traffic going northbound and turning left onto Mount Hebron Road from traffic coming down Mount Hebron to turn onto Grove. Traffic going southbound can turn directly off Mount Hebron onto Grove. A five-way traffic light is located on opposite sides of the intersection.

Ben Moor lives on Lasalle Road, a cul-de-sac several yards away from the intersection. Moor was having dinner with his family around 7 p.m. when police and ambulance were on the scene.

Moor said he takes the DeCamp Bus to Manhattan for work and finds it can be challenging getting off the bus near the intersection to walk home because of the traffic coming from different directions.

“It’s a pretty dangerous intersection. I think there have been accidents there before,” Moor said. “It’s tricky."

Carletta Goldston has lived in a house on Grove Street overlooking the intersection. Goldston was out for most of the day and got home around midnight. She said she only found out about the incident after friends called out of worry that she was the victim in question.

“I have lived here about 25 years, and the stop sign, no one ever stops for that stop sign,” said Goldston, pointing to a sign at the location where are cars supposed to stop after coming eastward from Mount Hebron onto Grove.

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Goldston said she was concerned about a friend of hers who came from New York yesterday by DeCamp Bus to visit her during the day.

“She gets off the bus there, and it’s dangerous for somebody when they get to the island and they cross the street,” Goldston said.

“Some people stop. Most people don’t.”



Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com