LIRR rider says passenger pushed her off moving train, files $1M claim

A Brentwood woman who says she was pushed off a moving LIRR train by an unruly passenger is claiming the railroad didn't do enough to protect her, according to a legal filing seeking $1 million.

MTA police confirmed Thursday that they had arrested a 51-year-old Bay Shore man, Eustaquio Santana, on misdemeanor assault and other charges in the July 13 incident.

Jennifer Summers, 39, said she was returning home from work on the Long Island Rail Road when a "belligerent" customer, apparently concerned that the train would not make its scheduled stop at Brentwood, used an emergency control panel to open the train doors. He urged passengers to jump off the train or risk missing their stop.

"He screamed, telling everybody that they had to jump in order to get out of the train at Brentwood," Summers said in an interview Thursday, adding that the "commotion" unfolded in front of a nearby train conductor. "There’s no way he didn’t see or hear nothing."

Although some of her fellow riders did get off the moving train, Summers said she had no intention of doing so, calling it "crazy."

"I’m not going to jump off a moving train," said Summers, who estimated the train was moving 5 to 10 miles per hour. "I'd rather get off at the next stop and then walk my way back."

But Summers said the man gave her no choice. "He grabbed me by my elbows and tossed me off," Summers said. "I hit the ground, tucked and rolled ... as best as I could."

Summers, who was carrying bags of food from the restaurant where she works as a cook, said she fell hard on the concrete station platform, hitting her head. As passengers on the platform tended to her, the train pulled away, Summers said.

MTA officials declined to comment on pending litigation.

Meghan Keegan, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the LIRR’s parent organization, said that, according to police, "a female passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries as a result of an incident that began on the train."

On Tuesday, Santana "was arrested and charged with multiple misdemeanors resulting from the incident," including reckless endangerment, assault and criminal tampering, Keegan wrote in an email.

Santana's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Summers said she went to Southside Hospital Northwell Health in Bay Shore, where she received a staple in her head, and gave a report to Suffolk County police.

Weeks later, after filing a notice of claim against the LIRR, Summers said she was contacted by MTA police. After identifying her alleged attacker in a photo lineup, Summers said, an arrest was made.

In a notice of claim filed Aug. 19 in state Supreme Court in Hauppauge, Summers’ attorney, Kenneth Mollins of Hauppauge, blamed the incident on "the negligent, reckless and careless operation and management" of LIRR officials who allowed the train to keep moving "after the emergency panel was pulled."

Crew members also failed to remove Santana from the train, even after he was "picking arguments with random passengers," and left Summers "on the station platform without any inquiry or assistance whatsoever," according to the legal filing.

Summers said she has continued to take the train regularly to and from work, even though she said she feels "wobbly" and "nauseous" when standing on the Brentwood station platform, and no longer feels safe onboard trains.

The incident comes as MTA police say they have stepped up patrols to address crime on the LIRR. The 45 felony assaults reported on the LIRR in 2023 were the most since at least 2006, and nearly double the 23 assaults the previous year.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.