Bus driver saves 5-year-old girl walking alone to pet store after fish died

NEW YORK -- A veteran New York MTA bus driver is being called a hero, after his quick-thinking actions on the job in Manhattan.

Luis Jimenez was driving his bus when he noticed a little girl alone on the sidewalk who then ran into the street.

"My instinct as a father came on because if I see a kid in the street in need of help, I would want somebody to help one of my children or one of my grandkids," Jimenez said.

It was a Tuesday in September, and Jimenez was considering calling out sick, but he didn't. The 60-year-old was just wrapping up his morning shift on the crosstown M116 when he spotted the 5-year-old girl seemingly by herself on the sidewalk near 106th street and Broadway.

"You know, my wife always, you know, kind of like she's worried about me because she knows that when I see something, it's like we have a saying in the MTA, 'if you see something, say something.' Oh, well, with me, I will do something," he said.

Jimenez says he kept an eye on the girl for about a block or so before telling a passenger to call 911. He then pulls over and calls his dispatcher, and with the help of other riders, gets the young girl on the bus.

Police eventually arrive and get the girl safely back to her family.

The girl's school, which was 10 blocks away, had reported her missing when she wasn't in class. Authorities say the little girl didn't have a history of leaving school, but her pet fish had just died, and that she left that day with a plan to go to the pet store and get a new one.

Despite the scare, Jimenez says he hopes the girl got a new pet fish, or if not, maybe the community can chip in and try to get one for her.

"Times are hard and there's things happening every day, and every day we got to come in with a positive attitude and be able to, even though it's negative all over the world going on, we have to go ahead and make a difference," Jimenez said.