Cellphone video documented a man dragging an unconscious and partially naked fellow passenger off a Blue Line train in Long Beach earlier this week, and now Metro is investigating the incident, which the transit agency called “very disturbing.”
YouTube page on Aug. 1, 2018 shows a man dragging an unresponsive man off a Blue Line train in Long Beach.
The video was recorded about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and posted on BillionGODSun’s YouTube’s page.
It shows a white man in a suit dragging an unresponsive man off the train at Willow Street Station, pulling the man’s pants up to cover his exposed lower body, throwing belongings onto the platform and going back on the train. Metro officials previously said the incident occurred at the Wardlow station.
The unconscious man is left alone on the platform. Passengers continued to open the door to keep the train from leaving the station, said Godsun, who recorded the video, told KTLA.
As the man in the suit sits back down on the train, Godsun says in the video that the unconscious man had just had a seizure. Godsun confronts the man in the suit, whom he calls “white boy,” and accuses him of not wanting to “miss his ride.”
The man in the suit responds that “there are a lot of people” on the train and suggested that the unresponsive man is probably drunk.
The man in the suit stays on the train while Godsun goes outside onto the platform. The video shows the man on the ground has his eyes open and “stitches on his head.”
Another man is seen clapping near the unconscious man’s face to try and get a response.
More than four minutes into the video, the man in the suit gets off the train again and checks on the unresponsive man.
Godsun shouts “Don’t try and act like you give a f*** now, because you’re the one who dragged him out here.” He tells the man in the suit that he had “no right” to put his hands on the unresponsive man.
The man in the suit says that since the train is “going nowhere” he got of the train to be “responsible.”
When Godsun tells the man in the suit again that the unresponsive man had a seizure, the suited man asks, “Are you a doctor?” and smiles at the camera.
After touching the man’s face and asking him if he is responsive, the man in the suit says the unconscious man needs paramedics.
Long Beach police and fire departments eventually responded to the incident, which is under investigation.
It is unclear what happened to the man or what condition he is in, but he was transported to a local hospital, officials stated. It is also unknown if the man in the suit committed any sort of crime.
Authorities added that all individuals in this incident are known, and they contacted the subject involved on Wednesday night.
Long Beach police told KTLA in an email that detectives are reviewing the video and will work with the the Los Angeles County District’s Office to determine if there was any criminal negligence involved. So far, no arrests have been made in relation to this case.
Godsun told KTLA that he felt the man in the suit got the unconscious man off the train so it wouldn’t be delayed by any medical response.
It was odd,” Godsun said. “Normally people would try to assist somebody in that situation.”
“This person in the suit was just thinking of himself and disposed of him like his life meant nothing,” Godsun added.
He said he began recording when he realized what was going on. He added that he didn’t help because he hadn’t had CPR training in decades and other people were already calling 911.
In a statement, Metro officials said they “never want to see this on our system.”
“We’re getting all the facts including reviewing the video from the train and the platform,” the statement reads.
Officials added that they encourage riders to call 911 when someone on the train is in distress or in need of medical assistance.
Anyone with information about the incident can call Metro security staff at 888-950-SAFE.
KTLA’s Juan Flores contributed to this story.
