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| An A train in Brooklyn. A 57-year-old man died Monday after his shopping bag became caught in the doors of an A train at the Utica Avenue station, police said. |
A Brooklyn man died Monday evening after he was dragged by a subway train at the Utica Avenue station in Bedford-Stuyvesant, police said. Authorities say his shopping bag became caught in the doors as he tried to get off an A train.
Police identified the man as Yaw Boahene, 57, of Brooklyn. The sources differ slightly on the timing of the emergency call, placing it between about 5:40 p.m. and 6:05 p.m. Monday. Police said officers found Boahene unconscious and unresponsive on the roadbed of the northbound A train, and emergency medical workers pronounced him dead at the scene.
Investigators told ABC7 that Boahene was pulled backward, between the train cars and onto the tracks. Police said they do not suspect criminality. The city's Office of Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death, and the police investigation is continuing.
What the MTA has said so far
Demetrius Crichlow, president of New York City Transit, said video of the incident shows Boahene unsteady on his feet and using a cane when he boarded at Rockaway Boulevard. He said the video also shows Boahene unsteady when he stepped off at Utica Avenue, carrying a thin plastic shopping bag.
The train was an R211, the newest class of cars in the subway fleet. Crichlow said these cars have sensors that reopen the doors when they detect an object above a certain size, such as a hand, a shoe or a large bag. A thin plastic bag, he said, has “no real width to it.” He called the situation terrible and said the agency will do whatever it can to determine whether its equipment played a role.
CBS New York reported that the MTA has not released findings from the investigation but has confirmed that the train's conductor and motorman have been removed from duty while it continues. Transport Workers Union Local 100 declined to comment.
What remains unclear
Police have not said what happened in the moments before the train pulled away from the platform. The NYPD initially said a backpack had been caught in the doors but later revised that account to a shopping bag.
CBS New York asked transportation accident attorney Andrew Maloney about the checks that should happen before a train leaves a station. He said the conductor works from a cab in the center of the train, can look in both directions, can issue an emergency stop and can reopen the doors if someone is caught. He also noted that subway doors, unlike elevator doors, do not bounce back when they close on a person. Maloney was not commenting on the specifics of this investigation.
Similar incident in 2022
Serious door-related accidents are rare on the subway. In 2022, a 20-year-old man from New Jersey died after his clothing or backpack became stuck in the doors of a 1 train at the Columbus Circle station in Manhattan.
The MTA has said subway customer accidents rose 2% in 2025, but ridership grew faster than accidents did, so the 12-month accident rate fell 4.7%.
A witness who said she was coming home from school told ABC7 that people on the platform panicked. Another rider, Shaniece King, told CBS New York the incident was “crazy” and “insane,” and said she felt bad for the victim. Riders have said they want to know what went wrong and what will prevent it from happening again. The investigation is ongoing.