Man Dies On New York Subway After Co-Passenger Puts Him In Chokehold
A 30-year-old man who was screaming on a subway in New York died on Monday after another passenger grabbed him and choked him. Juan Alberto Vasquez, a freelance journalist, recorded a video of the incident on his phone and posted it on his Facebook page. The New York Times (NYT) said the man’s identity has not been released and cited testimony that he behaved in a “hostile and disorderly manner” toward other passengers.
The video shows the man flailing his arms and kicking his legs as he tries to free himself. Two more stand over them and help subdue the man.
The man who moved to restrain him was 24 years old, the NYT reported, citing police officials. The police took him into custody and released him after questioning.
The outlet added that the man has not been charged and that the investigation is ongoing.
This chokehold is called a rear naked chokehold in martial arts and is used from an oppnonet’s back. Cutting off the oxygen supply to the brain is an easy way to submit your opponent or, if necessary, render him unconscious.
Mr Vasquez told NBC News he was on the northbound F train when the incident happened.
“Hungry, thirsty, don’t care about anything, don’t care if you go to jail,” said the person who started talking aggressively, got into the subway car and sat down. That he gets a big life sentence. ‘It doesn’t matter if I die,’ said Mr Vasquez.
He also said that his shouting scared other passengers. Then a fellow passenger came from behind and choked him.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) said it was called to the Broadway-Lafayette station around 2:25 p.m. after a 911 call of a physical fight on a train. NBC News reported that the man was unconscious on the floor of the car when officers arrived.
Mr Vazquez said the choking lasted about 15 minutes, even as the train stopped at the Broadway-Lafayette station and the doors opened. All the passengers inside the train got out, except the three who were involved in subduing the man.
The police said that the man died on the spot due to suffocation. Mr Vasquez said no one thought the man would die.
