BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (1010 WINS) — A Long Island woman claims that the MTA failed to protect her from a man who threw her off of a Long Island Rail Road train in July, so she filed a lawsuit against the transit authority and is seeking $1 million in damages.
Jennifer Summers, 39, said that she was riding the LIRR this summer when a man, who was acting belligerent moments before, pulled the emergency stop lever as the train was pulling into the Brentwood station.
“[He] then started to yell at everyone that if they wanted to get off in Brentwood that they had to jump off the train,” Summers told 1010 WINS.
That’s when she said he grabbed her by the elbows and threw her off the train, all in sight of an LIRR conductor, who was in the car right above them.
According to Summers, multiple passengers were making a commotion to try and get the conductor’s attention.
“He saw everything,” Summers said of the conductor. “And even after the fact, even after the train did come to a stop, I watched another guy bang on the door at the conductor where he was standing, where we saw him the entire time, yelling at him, pointing at me. and telling him to come out, and nothing.”
The MTAPD confirmed the incident to 1010 WINS, stating that at about 9:40 p.m. on July 13, a woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries as an LIRR Ronkonkoma Branch Train platformed at the Brentwood Station.
Summers said that she sustained a torn meniscus and concussion.
The MTAPD arrested Eustaquio Santana, of Bay Shore, on Aug. 27 in relation to the attack and charged him with several misdemeanors including second-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree assault and second degree criminal tampering.
Since the attack, Summers has been riding the train in fear.
“During the morning, I have really bad anxiety, but it’s a little less than it is at night, night scares me a lot more,” she said.
The MTA declined to comment on the lawsuit.