Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Victim remembered as loving father, friend

Almost seven years ago Chris Holt became owner of a commercial cleaning franchise so he could be his own boss and spend more time with his young family. The business of cleaning offices was night work, so Holt had his days free to do what he loved: snowboard, and play catch and ride bikes with his oldest son, 8-year-old Chance.

He was the kind of doting father and good neighbor everyone should be lucky enough to know, family, friends and neighbors said.

"A lot of people say great things about you when you're dead. You know it's a cliche. "'He was a great guy.' But with this guy it was for real," neighbor Dave Ferrier said. "He set the example for other fathers. I wish my dad spent time with me like he did."

On Tuesday afternoon Chris and Chance Holt were riding in the designated bicycle lane on Torrey Pines Drive near Ursus Drive, which they would have turned on to to get home, when they were struck by a pickup truck.

Chance was knocked to the ground and later treated at the hospital for a cut on his leg and some scrapes and bruises.

But 44-year-old Chris Holt was killed instantly, police said.

A day after the accident, family and neighbors said they were sickened by police reports that Holt landed on the hood of the truck and remained stuck there as it sped north on Torrey Pines for more than a mile before the driver pulled Holt off the truck, running over Holt as he sped away.

Michael Krivak, 40, was arrested shortly after the accident and faces a variety of charges including felony hit and run and felony drunken driving. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in Las Vegas Justice Court Friday morning.

The accident took Holt from his wife, Susan, and two sons, Chance and 9-month-old Cheyne, and from a northwest Las Vegas neighborhood where he was known as a nice and generous father who was often outside playing with or watching over his son.

"One time Chance fell off his scooter and his dad ran out and carried him right to the couch and then went and got him a giant slushee," said 10-year-old Nerissa Broeder, a neighborhood friend of Chance's. "Chance and his dad were really good buds."

Broeder and a group of children from the neighborhood visited Chance early Wednesday morning to say they were sorry about what happened to his father.

Chance didn't say much, she said.

"Chance was sitting on the couch with a green blanket on him. His dad's in heaven now," Broeder said.

Melanie Holt, Chris Holt's younger sister, said Chance knows "daddy's with God."

Holt's next-door neighbor Angel Conway said she often saw him outside playing catch with his son.

"He was a real nice man and he played with his kids all the time," Conway said.

Neighbor Gerald Smith said Holt was always quick to help others.

"If you ever needed a jump (start) or something he'd come help you," Smith said. "He never did say no."

The day after the accident was busy with telephone calls from friends in California, which is where Holt met his wife while working for DHL Worldwide Express at the airport in Los Angeles, Melanie Holt said. Holt was the third of seven children, growing up in Hawaii before moving to California when he was about 18, she said.

About 12 years ago DHL offered him a management position in Las Vegas, so he and Susan moved.

But Holt wanted to be his own boss and spend more time with his family, so he attended an entrepreneurs workshop and became a franchise owner for Jani-King of Las Vegas in May 1996.

"He worked at night, after 6, which gave him a lot of leeway to be a daddy," his sister said.

Melanie and other family members came to the Holt's home Wednesday. They reminisced about Chris Holt and played with the children as they worked their way through the long day.

Melanie said she will most remember her brother's way of bringing humor to every day, and his love for his family and the snow.

"He was a good guy. He could make you belly laugh like nobody else," Melanie said. "And he loved his children, he loved his wife, and he loved the snow.

Chris Holt just recently finished his first season as a member of the ski patrol at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, she said.

Melanie said she hopes the person responsible for her brother's death someday realizes what an impact it has had on the family.

"There's a big hole where there once stood a 6-foot-tall man," she said. "And it's just for riding his bike down the road."

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