A beloved cyclist was allegedly stabbed to death by a knife-wielding madman after heroically stepping in to protect a mother and her children who were being harassed at a California train station.
Colden Kimber, 28, was waiting at a Muni stop in San Francisco with his girlfriend on July 26 when a ranting lunatic approached a terrified family and hurled unhinged threats that prompted the 6-foot-4 New York native to courageously intervene, according to court documents obtained by KGO.
“Oh, you think you are better than me,” alleged assailant Sean Collins, 29, screamed at the mother and her two children at the Ingleside transit hub, adding, “You are scared of me.”
Kimber, heading home from a lunch date, positioned himself between the frightened family and Collins when the frenzied attacker plunged a six-inch blade into the unsuspecting man’s neck as he glanced toward an approaching train, court documents said.
The San Francisco State University student and avid cyclist stopped moving after the “completely and utterly unprovoked attack” as blood gushed out of his neck, officials said.
The Dryden native was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died following surgery, according to a GoFundMe launched by his heartbroken mother.
“There is no making sense of this and no words to convey the devastation we are feeling,” his mom, Lara Litchfield-Kimber, wrote in the fundraiser, which has since amassed over $91,000.
“He had this protective thing about him,” the grief-stricken mom told WSYR, noting her son was endearingly nicknamed a “country moose.”
A blood-stained Collins was arrested and charged with murder after being found just blocks from the deadly scene, where the horrific knifing was captured on surveillance cameras, according to local reports.
Kimber was studying kinesiology, the science of human movement, and working at American Cyclery, where he had spent the past three years repairing and building bikes, when he was ruthlessly killed.
“I’m going to miss him for his good nature and his kind spirit, and he really lived such an exemplary life,” Bradley Woehl, owner of American Cyclery, told KGO.
“He was a very positive influence on myself and my staff. He is totally irreplaceable as a worker, and totally irreplaceable as a friend and person and someone who had a good influence on my life.”
Kimber’s love for cycling began when he took his mother’s place in the New York Triathlon after she was forced to withdraw while battling breast cancer, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“He had never ridden a bike on a road,” Litchfield-Kimber told the outlet.
“The bikes were the things that stuck. People would say, ‘I had a Colden sighting,’ because it wasn’t that rare because he was always on his bike.”
A memorial bike ride has since been scheduled in Kimber’s honor on Sept. 7.
Collins is due back in court for his arraignment on Aug. 14.
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