Bergenfield High School football coach, 3 others killed in crash on Taconic State Parkway
Police have identified the 4 victims, and the driver of a van who remains in critical condition
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Police have identified the four people, including a beloved high school football coach from New Jersey, who were killed in a fiery crash on the Taconic State Parkway.
Cell phone video shows the fiery aftermath of the two-car crash in New Castle in Westchester County on Wednesday around 4:45 p.m.
Officials say a 2014 Ram ProMaster van, driven by 50-year-old Yader Reyes, was traveling southbound when it crossed the center median and entered the northbound lanes, hitting a 2024 Honda Accord.
Three people in the van were killed. They were identified as 20-year-old Odenis Balladares Martinez, 34-year-old Harrison Mauricio Reyes Rivera and 45-year-old Bryan Aguilar Castillo.
Reyes remains hospitalized in critical condition at Westchester Medical Center.
The driver of the car, identified as Bergenfield High School Football Coach Robert "Rob" Violante, was killed.
Violante coached football and track at the high school. He was headed home from school at the time of the crash.
He was known affectionately to many as "Coach V."
"His unexpected loss is deeply felt across our entire school community, and we know that Bergenfield High School and our town will never be the same without him," Schools Superintendent Christopher Tully wrote in a letter to students, parents and staff.
Tully wrote that Violante had been "a mentor, a father figure, and true friend' during his 15 years at both Bergenfield High and Jefferson Elementary.
The school district likened him to Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in the movie "Kindergarten Cop," a "gentle giant."
He started out as a special education teacher at an elementary school and eventually moved into coaching sports, but students say he was much more than just a coach.
"He was also like a second father to me. I really cared and loved him deeply," said a student named Julio.
Julio, and another student named Anthony, are both seniors at Bergenfield High School. The two were lucky enough to spend several years with Violante.
"If there was one guy in that whole school that just wanted to see you succeed no matter what you did, and he was the guy and he really cared and loved for every one of the students," Anthony said.
Marc Hattem, the athletic director at Somers Central School District, says sports played a large role in Violante's life, but his relationships with students, his hometown, and his family are what made him the so special.
"Rob, whenever he had a free second, would always be at his nephew's games," Hattem said. "You know, sometimes we joke around, like, when do you do your own job? Right. And but it's what his family meant to him."
Violante was a star quarterback and basketball player at Somers High School, attending the northern Westchester school from 1994 to 1998.
In January 2024, Somers High School honored him for scoring over 1,000 points during his four years of basketball play.
Violante is the son of a long-time varsity football coach and athletic director at Somers High School. One of his brothers is also a coach in that district.
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