Elderly woman dies after being pushed into BART train in San Francisco; suspect arrested
A suspect was arrested Monday night when an elderly woman suffered critical injuries after he pushed her into an oncoming BART train in San Francisco, the transit agency said.
The incident happened at about 11:06 p.m. at the Powell Street station where the 74-year-old woman was pushed into a Millbrae-bound train arriving at the station. The woman hit her head on the train and fell on the platform, BART said.
She was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where she later died of her injuries. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified her as Corazon Dandan of San Mateo County.
BART Police arrested 49-year-old Trevor Belmont on the Powell Street station platform shortly after the incident. Belmont, also known as Hoak Taing, who was described by police as a transient. Since 2013, police records show Belmont has been involved in nearly two dozen criminal cases in San Francisco.
Police investigators were reviewing surveillance video of the incident and were still determining the motive for the alleged attack.
Dandan's nephew, Alvin Dandan, told CBS News Bay Area she was a telephone operator at multiple hotels, primarily the Westin St. Francis. He also said she didn't need to work anymore to meet any financial needs, but kept working because she loved her job.
He said Dandan originally worked for Westin in the Philippines, then decided to move to the United States to work for Westin in San Francisco.
He also said she preferred working the night shifts because she was "a night owl" and would usually get off very late.
Dandan would regularly take the BART from Daly City to Powell Street, according to her nephew.
"We told her it's dangerous to BART stations," he said. "[The family] told her to stop doing the commute."
Robert Waite, who lived by Dandan, said his neighbor was friendly, kind, and kept to herself.
"She was very friendly. I talked to her all the time. She used to come up to the house," he said. "She was a very nice lady. She used to give vegetables… [There's now] so much violence in the world. Nobody care about anybody. And it's kind of sad how the world is now."
BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin called the homicide "rare."
"This is the first homicide [on BART] of the year, and I just want to stress this is an extremely rare incident. I cant' recall another incident where somebody was pushed into a train like this," Franklin said. "We're working very hard to make BART the safest way to travel around the Bay Area."
BART riders CBS News Bay Area spoke with said they needed more police officers at BART stations and trains.
Chief Franklin said his department has 24 vacancies for police officers and 4 vacancies for dispatchers. He also said the department is actively working to hire more officers.
Kevin Ko contributed to this story.