NEW YORK — A New York City man died after his plastic shopping bag became caught in the doors of a subway train, authorities said. The man was dragged on the platform by the moving train before he collided with a wall and fell onto the tracks.
According to a New York City Police Department spokesperson, Yaw Boahene, 57, of Brooklyn, was exiting an express A train at around 6 p.m. ET on Monday at the Utica Avenue station when his shopping bag was caught as the doors closed, The New York Times reported.
Investigators said that Boahene was dragged the length of seven train cars before hitting the wall at the end of the station leading into the tunnel, according to WABC. He ultimately fell onto the tracks and was later pronounced dead at the scene, the television station reported.
Boahene was not struck by the train, police said. It was unclear how fast the train was moving when Boahene collided with the wall, according to WNBC.
Breaking News: A man was killed in New York City after his bag got stuck in the subway door and he was dragged by the train, the police said. https://t.co/6fSBEClYKY
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 29, 2026
In an interview with the Times on Tuesday, Demetrius Crichlow, the president of New York City Transit, said that a video of the incident showed Boahene unsteady on his feet and walking with a cane when he boarded the train at Rockaway Boulevard. He was also unstable when he got off at Utica Avenue, the video shows, and was carrying a thin, plastic shopping bag.
“He was carrying a plastic bag, which has no real width to it,” Crichlow told the newspaper. “It’s a terrible situation, but we’re going to do whatever is possible to determine whether or not our equipment was part of it.”
It was unclear why Boahene did not let go of the bag.
Gabriel Broadus, 17, told WCBS she witnessed the incident.
“I turned around, and there’s a man, like, almost dangling from the train,” Broadus said.
She said bystanders yelled in an attempt to stop the train as she dialed 911.
“When I was on the phone, the train was already moving,l” she told the television station. “I couldn’t see the train anymore.”
Driving a subway train longer than five cars is a two-person job, according to the Times. It requires an operator in the front to move the train and a conductor in the middle to control the doors, John Ross, a former train service supervisor with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the subway, told the newspaper.
Crichlow said the conductor’s job is to “observe the platform as the doors close, and to observe the platform as he’s departing the station.” He told the Times the conductor of the train that dragged Boahene has been removed from service while officials conduct an investigation.
The motorman has also been removed, according to WCBS.
“Conductors are supposed to look out and make sure that people aren’t in this situation. That’s the whole thing, they do a little thumbs up, that’s what supposed to happen. And that didn’t happen,” Broadus told WABC. “There was no one to turn to. And we know the police, they can come as quickly as they can, but the train was already at Nostrand Avenue at that point, like what, like what help is that going to be?”
An investigation is ongoing.
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