A 28-year-old man has passed away after attempting to jump a subway turnstile in New York.
According to the New York Post, a video surfaced of the moment Christopher De La Cruz landed on his head and broke his neck at the Forest Hills-71st Avenue train station in Queens on Sunday (Jan. 2). The surveillance showed Cruz, who was sporting a backpack, at about 6:45 a.m. attempting to leap over a turnstile after he entered the subway station. However, he fell and appeared to have dropped his cellphone.
Cruz then stumbled back before continually trying to jump over another turnstile. On the last try, the 28-year-old can be seen raising himself up, but he lost his balance and flipped over the barrier. He slammed down onto his head, breaking his neck, police said.
Immediately afterward, Cruz was seen lying motionless between the two turnstiles in the video. When police officers and EMS personnel arrived, they pronounced Cruz dead at the scene. It is believed that he died when his head struck the concrete ground.
Jose De La Cruz, the 28-year-old’s father, spoke to the Daily News about the freak accident. “What can I say?” he said. “He did a mistake.”
Police believe Cruz was a straphanger — or someone who tries to evade paying the subway fare. Straphangers usually jump turnstiles to avoid having to pay the $2.75 fee. Occasionally, they will hop the barrier if the turnstile is stuck or if it doesn’t work.
The punishment for hopping a turnstile is a civil citation, which is similar to a traffic ticket. The person can either fight the case in the Transit Adjudication Bureau or pay a $100 fine. According to Fox News, in 2017, out of 33,000 turnstile jumpers in Manhattan, 25,000 got summonses and 8,000 were arrested.
The city medical examiner will determine Cruz’s exact cause of death.