Support truly
independent journalism
A suspect has been arrested after pushing a 74-year-old woman into the path of a San Francisco train, causing her death.
Trevor Belmont, 49, who is also known as Hoak Taing, was arrested on suspicion of pushing Corazon Dandan, 74, of San Mateo County, into a Millbrae-bound train at Powell Street station. Belmont is believed to be homeless, according to authorities.
The incident occurred at 11.05pm Monday, the Bay Area Rapid Transit, police said. Dandan was pushed as a train approached, hit her head on the train and fell on the platform.
“The train was arriving at the platform, coming into the platform when the victim was pushed,” said Kevin Franklin, police chief for BART, adding that investigators believe the suspect “intentionally pushed” the 74-year-old into the oncoming train, causing serious injuries.
Dandan was transported to San Francisco General Hospital, where she later died, police said.
Her niece told NBC that Dandan she was pushed on her way home from work.
Dandan worked at a hotel — the Westin St Francis in Union Square — as a telephone operator for 40 years, and “took the same route every day” to and from her night shifts, which sometimes ended as late as 1am, her nephew Dr Alvin Dandan told the San Francisco Chronicle.
“It is a tragic way of passing away, that is the most painful part,” her nephew told the outlet. The tragedy occurred just a week after her relatives tried to convince her to start driving to work rather than taking public transit, her nephew said.
He described his aunt as a “brave, independent woman”’ and praised her for putting him through medical school.
She was in the process of building a vacation home on a lake in the Philippines, where she grew up until moving to the US in the 1980s, the outlet reported. Dr Dandan lamented: “We were in the process of building it and now she’s gone.”
Belmont was arrested on the platform of the Powell Street station shortly after the incident. He will be booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of murder and inflicting injury on elder or dependent adult likely to cause great bodily injury, according to his arrest report.
“We have had contacts with this person in the past but not for any serious crimes such as this one,” Franklin said.
The incident is under investigation. “BART PD is interviewing witnesses and processing evidence. The investigation includes the review of surveillance video,” police said.
A motive for the attack has not been revealed.
Authorities confirmed that Dandan’s death is the first homicide of the year on the BART system.
