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During Monday, October 17, night's rush hour in Queens, a 48-year-old man was fatally pushed in front of an approaching subway train after unintentionally bumping into another passenger, police and law enforcement sources said.
The NYPD reported that the two unknown guys were fighting on a platform at the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street station in Queens around 5 pm when Heriberto Quintana, 48, ultimately ended up on the tracks.
What happened near the Queens subway tracks? How did Heriberto Quintana get shoved on it?
According to surveillance footage released by the authorities, just before 6 pm on Monday, the two men bumped into the platform at Roosevelt Avenue-Jackson Heights during the busiest time of the evening.
Shortly after, the suspect's smartphone fell onto the tracks, and he asked Quintana to retrieve it, according to police sources. The two men started fighting after the latter refused.
Later, the victim, Heriberto Quintana, was shoved down to the tracks in front of an approaching F train headed for Jamaica by the person who lost his phone in a fit of rage, according to sources and police. Quintana was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.
An MTA station cleaner, who worked for the MTA for 15 years at Jackson Heights station, said:
“I heard a loud argument, an altercation. It was two Spanish guys...older, like in their 50s. You could hear them yelling on the mezzanine level. Then I heard screams and ran down to the platform. He was alive when I saw him, breathing and everything.”
The station cleaner also said:
“It’s sad this is the new normal. I’ve worked down here half my life. If it’s not a subway surfer, it’s a fight; if it’s not a fight, it’s a stabbing or a shooting.”
Police said they have the suspect, a 50-year-old man, in custody and are currently looking through CCTV footage to determine whether the victim fell on his own or was forced off the platform by the suspect. It's currently uncertain if the suspect will be charged.
Massive delays were caused by the subway train incident on the E/F/M/R lines coming in and leaving Queens and Long Island Rail Road honored MetroCard holders in both directions to reduce congestion.
It was the sixth fatality in the transit system in the previous two weeks and the ninth in the subway system in 2021. In Far Rockaway on Friday last week, a teenager was shot and killed while riding a train. Since September 30, there have been three fatal stabbings, two subway attacks, and one bus accident.
