FILE – A NYPD police officer on the New York Subway.
Photo by Dean Moses
A Queens man is facing manslaughter charges for allegedly killing a man during a bizarre altercation aboard a Bronx subway train on Wednesday morning.
According to police sources, cops from the 50th Precinct and NYPD Transit District 3 received a 911 call of an assault in progress at 242 Street-Van Cortlandt Park subway station just after 3 a.m. on May 13.
Upon arrival, they discovered an unidentified, possibly homeless, man unconscious and unresponsive lying on the floor of a southbound 1 train. EMS rushed him to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Based on a preliminary investigation, sources with knowledge of the incident said, police determined that the man had gotten into a physical altercation with 68-year-old Keith Plummer, of 109th Drive in Jamaica.
Sources said Plummer had been sleeping in the mostly empty train car when the victim, who had brandished a cane, began acting strangely as the 1 train pulled into 242 Street-Van Cortlandt Park, the final stop on the line.
Police believe the victim either poked or hit Plummer with the cane, sparking the physical struggle. During the altercation, the sources said, Plummer allegedly pinned the victim to the floor of the train car; the man then suffered a medical episode and went into cardiac arrest.
Following an investigation, Plummer was officially charged on Wednesday afternoon with manslaughter.
