NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 17: People walk their bicycles along the platform after leaving a 2 subway train at the Chambers Street station on August 17, 2022, in New York City. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
A man died after falling onto train tracks and getting hit by a train during a fight where one of the two combatants dropped a cell phone onto the tracks below, cops say.
In yet another deadly incident to occur within the NYC transit system, authorities said two men bumped into each other on the platform at the Roosevelt Avenue-Jackson Heights station around 6 p.m. on Monday, amidst the evening commuter rush, according to NBC New York.
A cell phone belonging to the suspect fell onto the train tracks. and he demanded the victim go get it.
The other man refused to retrieve it, prompting the two to fight. The victim, identified as 48-year-old Heriberto Quintana, ultimately ended up on the tracks as a train was entering the station.
Quintana was taken to Elmhurst Hospital where he died, police said.
The other man involved in the fight, described as a 50-year-old man, was taken into police custody.
Authorities are now reviewing surveillance footage to see if the suspect pushed Quintana off the platform or if he fell on his own.
No charges have been filed as of Tuesday.
Quintana’s death triggered massive delays on the E/F/M/R lines going in and out of Queens. The Long Island Rail Road ended up picking up some of the slack, and cross-honored MetroCard holders in both directions.
The incident was the ninth death in the subway system this year, and the fifth in the transit system over the last two weeks.
On Friday, a teen was shot to death on a moving train in Far Rockaway.
Meanwhile, three other people have been stabbed to death since September 30, with two in subway attacks and a third on a city bus.
On Saturday (October 15) a man was pushed onto the train tracks in the Bronx, with police calling the attack unprovoked. Surveillance video released the next day shows as the unidentified assailant approaches the man before shoving him down onto the tracks before the arrival of an incoming 6 train, according to the outlet.
The man in that incident thankfully survived after a group of Good Samaritans helped him get off of the tracks and back onto the platform. The suspect in that case has yet to be caught.
