An Asian grandmother shoved onto train tracks in New York City managed to narrowly avoid an oncoming train, Brooklyn prosecutors said on Tuesday, according to New York Daily News.
Bi He, 73, was waiting near the Manhattan-bound C train tracks at Clinton/Washington Aves. station on October 19. She and her 30-year-old grandson Henry Cheng were standing near suspect Luis Hernandez.
Cheng says he asked to Hernandez to stop smoking out of concern for his grandparents. Hernandez then allegedly lost his cool, striking Cheng in the face and throwing Bi He to the tracks.
The Manhattan-bound C train was approaching as Hernandez shoved He into the tracks. It was originally thought that train operator had managed to stop the train in time, but prosecutors have revealed that He actually scrambled out of the way before the train could hit her, New York Daily News reports.
Hernandez was arrested on Monday for attempted murder. He has a criminal record. In 2007 he was convicted of having inappropriate sexual contact with a child. He was released from prison in 2013, but convicted again in 2018 for assaulting someone in Staten Island. He was released from prison in August and has been homeless ever since.
Although crime in New York City dropped during the beginning of the pandemic, it is slowly ticking back up. In emptier subway stations, violent crime is rising, The New York Times reports.
Cheng told New York Daily News that he feels guilty for yelling at Hernandez.
“At the end of the day, I caused the guy to run at us like that,” he said.
The shove caused Bi He to suffer spinal fractures, a fractured tibia in her leg and skull fractures. Prosecutors say she was intubated at a local, where she remains.
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