Woman sues LIRR after being thrown from moving train
A woman is taking legal action against the LIRR, claiming the transit agency failed to protect her from a man who threw her off a train. FOX 5 NY’s Jodi Goldberg spoke to her about this frightening experience.
LONG ISLAND – A woman sued the Long Island Railroad after claiming they failed to protect her from a man who threw her off a train.
A staple can still be seen on Jennifer Summers’ scalp after she says a belligerent passenger pulled an emergency handle to open the LIRR doors and then pushed her from a moving car on her way home from work in July.
“We realized when the train came to a stop at one point it didn’t completely line up with the platform, so we walked up a car,” she said. “Within a split second his hands were around my elbows, and he pushed me off the train,” Summers said.
The 39-year-old says the man, who MTA police identify as Eustaquio Santana, is facing charges including assault.
“He proceeded to tell everybody if you wanted to get off at Brentwood you had to jump off,” Summers said. “There was no way to brace myself, I just tucked and rolled.”
The mother who relies on the train to get to and from work says the MTA is more concerned about on-time performance than the safety of its passengers. Her attorney, Kenneth Mollins, filed a notice of claim on her behalf seeking $1 million.
“Who in their right mind would think the Long Island Rail Road would allow a train to be moving with the doors open it makes no sense,” Mollins said.
Summers, who tore her meniscus and suffers constant migraines since the incident, says she’s going to physical therapy for neck, shoulder and hip pain. She hopes changes are made to make it safer.
“They should’ve at least had some police or someone on the train so if there’s an unruly passenger, there would be protection,” she said.
MTA officials, for their part, didn’t comment on pending litigation. Summers’ attorney plans to move forward with a lawsuit.
