Man dies after NYC subway rider puts him in chokehold as verbal altercation turns ugly
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A 30-year-old man died on the New York City subway after a verbal altercation turned ugly on Monday, May 1. He was put in a chokehold for around 15 minutes on a train as per police and a witness. The incident was also captured on a mobile phone. The deceased was found unconscious when officers arrived at the East Houston Street subway station and rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead, as per a statement released by the New York City Police Department on Wednesday, May 3.
The 24-year-old fellow rider was taken into custody by the authorities for questioning but was later released, police said, but didn’t reveal any names yet, nor any charges were filed. Juan Alberto Vazquez, a witness of the incident, told NBC New York that the 30-year-old was being aggressive on the subway. "The man got on the subway car and began to say a somewhat aggressive speech saying he was hungry, he was thirsty, that he didn’t care about anything, he didn’t care about going to jail, he didn’t care that he gets a big life sentence. That 'It doesn’t even matter if I died,'" he told the news station in Spanish.
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'He lost consciousness'
Vazquez, who captured some of the moments from the incident shared the footage with NBC New York where the 24-year-old is appearing to lock the man in a chokehold on the ground while two other passengers help to restrain him." Further investigation revealed that the 30-year-old was involved in a verbal dispute with the 24-year-old male and it escalated into a physical altercation. During the physical struggle between the two males, the 30-year-old lost consciousness," the spokesperson said over a phone call.
'The investigation is ongoing'
The officers arrived at the scene after receiving a 911 call about a fight. As per the witness, no one was expecting that the man will die due to the chokehold used to restrain him. The police department and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office updated that the investigation is ongoing. The medical examiner's office is yet to release its statement on the incident and comments are awaited.