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Man Accused Of Pushing Woman Into Side Of Moving ‘R’ Train

Straphangers Subdue Suspect, Who Offers Baffling Explanation

August 13, 2010 11:50 PM
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New York City Subways

New York City Subway (credit: CBS)

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NEW YORK (CBS 2) – This one fits nicely into the “you gotta be kidding me” category — even for New York City.

An evening commute turned into a near death experience for a Manhattan woman. Witnesses said they saw a crazed straphanger push her into the side of a moving train. The attack has some train riders on alert.

An “R” train barreling into a Midtown subway station nearly killed 39-year-old Manhattanite Ute Linhart. But she didn’t fall in front of the train. She was pushed.

“It’s scary. It really is,” one rider told CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez.

Linhart was standing on the 28th Street subway platform when she said a suspicious looking man came creeping up on her. Linhart told police when the train pulled into the station the man pushed her into the oncoming train.

The impact sent Linhart flying back onto the platform. She suffered broken ribs, a broken left shoulder and left arm and a crushed sinus cavity.

One witness snapped a picture of the man she said is the alleged attacker Jose Rojas.

Straphangers kept the 25-year-old suspect up against a wall so he couldn’t get away. Prosecutors said Rojas admitted he pushed Linhart and told witnesses “I don’t know why I pushed her.”

“There’s no going around stopping or preventing an assault like that from happening because it’s just inevitable,” said Bedford Stuyvesant resident Peter Macintosh.

When asked if she ever thinks about things like this happening to her while she’s standing on a subway platform, Dianna Marino of Astoria told CBS 2: “That somebody might push me into the train? No.”

But some subway riders told us this week’s unprovoked assault has them thinking about what they’ll do now to protect themselves.

“I have to be aware of my surroundings at all times. If not then something like that will occur,” said Yonira Couvertier of Queens.

“When someone looks a little suspicious I will shout and scream and say police,” added Mary Mejia of Queens.

“I keep away from the train. When it comes in I’m always back,” another rider told CBS 2.

Linhart is being treated at Bellevue Hospital, where she reportedly said she’ll never take the subway again.

Rojas has been charged with second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault, and is being held without bail.

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  • http://lwdewhirst.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/jet-blue-rashomon/ Jet Blue Rashomon « Paris is the Capitol of Rome

    [...] the aviation field” — even saying his client wanted to return to JetBlue. Meanwhile,  Jose Rojas, 25, abruptly pushed a woman into the side of a  moving New York City subway train, then told [...]

  • vsk

    And people wonder why I take a bike 11 miles each way to work.
    vsk

    • Bruce

      Yeah – been meaning to ask you about that, vsk. Whassup wit dat?

  • Jon

    George Bush made him do it

    • Bruce

      Obviously it’s Bushes fault. He gets the blame for everything else, doesn’t he?

      • D~

        Yep, GWB strikes again!

    • Bruce

      Mr. Rojas will be charged with a “hate crime” in 3…2…1…

    • Kate- Anti-DemoRAT

      ****BREAKING NEWS: The mad man who pushed her was actually George Bush himself!! Obama confirmed it via teleprompter moments ago. If you were thinking this accusation is crazy, considering Bush is currently in Texas, consider the following: Obama was elected to be the new leader of the free world, commander in chief, the president of what once was the greatest country in the world, all with no credentials, no pride, no experience, no birth certificate, no academic records, just a nice voice and a cast of articulate writers behind his speeches. Now that is CRAZY.

  • kanzaman

    Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm….perhaps enough real Americans are sick and tired enough of how America has become that we may return to our roots and become the America we used to be, the one that everyone looked up to and respected. Now THAT would be HOPE and CHANGE I could believe in.

  • This_Is_My_Name

    Obama should invite the 2 of them to the White House for a “Train Push Summit”. That’ll smooth things over.

    • Goodgold

      Yeh, the woman acted “stupidly” for being so close to the train. Jose was only trying to protect his zone of intimacy and she crossed it.

    • RealRick

      Maybe have beers saying ‘she acted stupidly.

  • Stupid

    i am stupid, i am stupid, i am stupid.

  • CAROLJANE

    Wht are you ASSUMING she said anything? People do this stuff all the time and are NOT provoked. People need to learn they are responsible for their own actions. Don’t blame everyone else for your problems.

  • CAROLJANE

    I totally agree with you.

  • CAROLJANE

    The man is crazy no matter what color his skin is. The way things are going these days he will not spend a day in jail for what he did to both of those people.

  • Cindy

    Well, I certainly hope the authorities will not ask about his citizenship status–that would be the REAL crime.

    • Erika

      And just why is that Cindy??? If he’s not an illegal, then he has nothing to worry about. Right????????

      • D~

        I think Cindy had her tongue firmly planted in her cheek, Erika. At least I hope she did. If she’s serious then maybe she should be pushed in front of a moving train for being so ignorant! Just saying……..

    • AZ Cindy

      I do hope your comment is tongue in cheek

  • Melissa in NorCal

    Dude was mad he couldn’t beat up a man, so he took it out on a woman. Hand him over to Bubba for…”processing”.

  • Hugg

    If this happened in my town the judge would let him go as an illegal. It happens all the time.

    • RealRick

      If it were to happen in my town, 10 people would have drawn down on him and he would be the hood ornament of the next train.

  • amplitude jones

    we are under invasion by racist animals who want the humans murdered.

    • kelly

      That is correct. So go and jump into a train and save us the effort.

  • Dan

    Come on, if he IS a member of a minority then he SHOULD be helped with affirmative action programs. They NEED those programs. Let’s face it – minorities can’t cut it on their own; they need help or they’ll fail. It’s reality. They cannot succeed without help. THAT’S the purpose of affirmative action programs – to help those who cannot make it on their own. Right?

    • Globalwarmer

      Gosh Dan!
      But that sounds a lot like our very own first arrirmative action worthless to the tenth degree little dictator want-ta-be obozo the mighty twit.

  • AZ Bill

    I’m just glad that he’s up in NY and not down here in AZ.

    • TheChairman

      Yep, another mentally deranged Mexican made it from the AZ border to New York.

      Don’t worry Bloomberg, we’ve got 450,000 illegals for you to welcome into NYC.

  • bubba

    Hate crime

  • Xrlq

    Give him a break, you evil xenophobes. All he did was menace a guy Americans wouldn’t menace, then push a woman Americans wouldn’t push into a train Americans weren’t riding at the time.

  • Greg Buls

    WHOA!!!
    Before you talk about locking this guy up forever, take a look at the last name. Rojas. Probably Latino. That means that racism is a mitigating circumstance, right libs? There’s probably an army of ACLU attorneys lined up to represent this guy, precisely because of his skin tone. That’s how you roll, right, libs?

    You can bet that He MUST have suffered some kind of discrimination at some point. So he’s not FULLY responsible for his actions because he has brown skin, right libs? Let’s give him a break.

    • Goodgold

      Yeh, two weeks and credit for time served, then back on the streets.

    • kelly

      So true! I’m sure Bush is to blame for this too.

  • ARCHIE

    Just curious… is he an illegal?

    • kelly

      more than likely

  • Tim

    He was just sharing his culture. Don’t you racists feel enriched?

    • Pluto

      Probably an MS-13 gang member, it is Friday the 13th

  • Kathleen

    Obviously one of the many Bloomberg and Obama claim are only here to work. Sadly, too many of these people consider their work raping, murdering, and assaulting Americans.

    • I hate Stupid White People

      Yeah, because white American men don’t rape, murder or assault. And Dan, affirmative action is for past transgressions and current systemic racism. If you think racism doesn’t exist, just read your comment.

      • Atalludumfks

        and your comment is less racest?

      • RicardoCabeza

        First off you idiot you “correct” for actions that have already happened and if you don’t realize it the days of institutional racism are long and gone my tubby not bright amiga. Lastly INDIVIDUAL racism will always exist throughout ALL ethnic groups. Here’s a suggestion squat deep push hard and and stop getting your vision obscured by your colon.

      • King Pap Shmear

        Yea! white people’s just make up stuff.

      • Try again

        @I hate Stupid White People,

        Yeah, you’re username screams tolerance.

    • Veronika

      Funny that the woman pushed was a German citizen…. with immigration background.

      • ev

        Hey V,

        Not sure how that’s funny. Could u explain it to me? Maybe I’m slow….

  • http://www.talkdrudge.com/2010/08/13/man-accused-of-going-berserk-on-nyc-subway-platform-pushing-woman-into-side-of-moving-train/ Man Accused Of Going Berserk On NYC Subway Platform, Pushing Woman Into Side Of Moving Train…

    [...] Statistics Follow the original link Last Updated: August 13, 2010 0 Comments [...]

  • Vincent is a dumbie

    Up until I read Vincents comment I was against making English the mandatory language of the USA.

  • Vincent

    Thek New York Post will give the full correct story and not leave you will a blog mind to give stupid comments with.

    • I is Stoopid

      What language is this, Vince?

      • Me Too

        Yea! And when they do that’ll show me,…..something.

    • How doyou spell G.E.D.?

      A product of the government-controlled public school system.

      • Jared Lorz

        Yes yes, everything is the governments fault.

      • rachel

        I is Stoopid, why do you think George Bush is so stupid?

        Why do you think Republicans across this country voted for this idiot twice?

        Are Republicans stupid because of some OTHER reason? You’re an absolute moron

    • 1ofZillions

      Thanks Vince, for the suggestion. Obviously there is a typo… “Thek” was intended as “The” – Blogs are valuable. Otherwise we would not be able to communicate ideas, we would just be readers without connections.

  • Steve

    Lock him up forever, or he will do it again.

    • sam salinitis

      maybe if idiots around the city would not shove and push onto the train like a band of idiots we would never have to worry about who gets puished into a train….

      • KennyP

        Nice moronic comment…hopefully the majority of New Yorkers are not as stupid as you.

      • noah aier

        LOL, Kenny! Seriously, what kind of comment was that, sam s? Was that a joke? Ah, man, got a laugh outta me, so, thanks!

      • seth

        what a stupid comment..unfortunately there are a lot of morons just like you out there. I think it is like 1 in 4 or something

    • Jsck Kinch(1uncle), Midwest City,OK

      A problem of division and overpopulation.

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