Stranger Pushes Man Onto Subway Tracks In Another Random Attack
Posted May 21, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Just hours after a woman was stabbed in a senseless and random attack on the street comes word of another terrible crime that seems to have eerie parallels below ground.
A man standing on the platform at the College Subway station just after it opened at 6am Wednesday was stunned when he suddenly found himself lying on the tracks.
The reason: someone he didn’t even know pushed him from the platform and forced him onto the dangerous area below. Cops suspect a homeless man did the deed, although what the suspect was doing in the subway and why he allegedly pushed a complete stranger may never be clear.
That’s because police have no idea who he was or where he went. He disappeared immediately after the incident and authorities have only a limited description of what he looks like.
He’s said to be:
- White,
- 30s,
- 5’9″
- 170 lbs.,
- Short brown hair.
He was wearing white running shoes and grey or polyester pants and was carrying a black garbage bag.
“At approximately 6:00 am, police responded to the College subway station, at which time…they learned that an individual was standing on the northbound platform and he was pushed onto the track rail, onto the track area. He came inches away from the third rail. As a result, he managed to safely climb back onto the platform. The suspect fled the scene,” reveals Const. Tony Vella.
Cops are checking TTC security video from the station, hoping to get a closer look at him. But that won’t help put a name to the suspect, who for now remains merely a face in the crowd.
The victim in this case was very lucky. There was no train coming after he was shoved over the edge and he managed to climb out looking shaken but none the worse for wear. It’s the second time this month that there was a close call involving a subway car and someone landing on the tracks.
A woman who accidentally stumbled in the Spadina subway station earlier this month managed to roll onto a small lip at the side of the tracks, avoiding being crushed by a train as it roared into the terminal. She suffered some relatively minor complaints and was able to go home to her family after being treated in hospital.
Riders are understandably worried about the latest incident.
“…it does scare me sometimes because I have been in situations where there has been, like, some people that have scared me on the subway,” remarked Anita Rebelo.
