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Man Electrocuted And Fatally Hit By Train While Retrieving iPhone On Tracks
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 2, 2013
Modified Jun 2, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 2, 2013
Modified Jun 2, 2013
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A Bronx man went onto the subway tracks to retrieve his dropped iPhone yesterday and was electrocuted and fatally struck by a train. Police say that 22-year-old Francisco Diego Jr. was shocked and then hit by a 2 train at the Wakefield-241st Street station just after 1 a.m. Saturday morning. “He’s not the type to jump into the subway to get it,” friend Kevin Atterbury told the News. “He would just go get a new one. That’s why this is so shocking.”
Diego Jr. reportedly told a toll booth clerk he had dropped the smartphone before jumping down. After the 2 train entered the station, he went between two of the cars and tried to grab it, but ended up electrocuting himself on the third rail. He was knocked onto the tracks, and struck by the train as it pulled out of the station. Diego Jr. was rushed to Jacobi Hospital where he died.
Diego Jr. worked as a security guard, and went by the name DJ Tech Trackz. Family members told the News this wasn't the first time he had ventured onto the tracks: “He’s done it before, which is why he tried to do it again,” said his sister Nandy. “But this time it wasn’t successful. I feel like my heart has been ripped out.”
Tagged
2 train
bronx
death
electrocution
Francisco Diego Jr.
MTA
subway
subway fatalities
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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