A 48 year-old man is dead after he was horrifically pushed into the pathway of an oncoming subway car in a Queens by an individual that he had just accidently bumped into, according to police.
The incident took place at 4:45 p.m. during Monday night’s rush hour when the victim, Heriberto Quintana, had bumped into another rider on the platform – a 50 year-old male, cops say – at the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue 74th Street station, inadvertently knocking his cell phone onto the tracks below.
The 50 year-old male reportedly demanded that Quintana retrieve his dropped cell phone; when he refused, the two got into an altercation that ultimately resulted in the suspect pushing Quintana off of the platform and into the path of an oncoming Jamaica-bound F train.
Quintana was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Witnesses attempted to detain the suspect, but he fled the scene on another train; he was later tracked down and arrested by police, but charges remain pending.
The incident marks the ninth murder in New York City’s subway system in 2022 so far, a 25-year record high.