A man died Sunday morning after he snapped his neck while jumping the subway turnstile at the Forest Hills-71st Avenue station in Queens, New York.
According to the New York Daily News, Christopher De La Cruz, 28, appeared to have been on his way to work when he attempted to avoid the $2.75 fare by jumping the subway turnstile.
The surveillance footage from 6:30 a.m. captured him wearing a backpack as he struggled to lift his body over the barrier.
After a few failed attempts, De La Cruz reportedly fell and cracked his skull on the concrete floor.
The NYPD and EMS personnel were called after reports of an unconscious man lying on the mezzanine floor of the station, which serves the E, F, M, and R lines, the Daily Mail reported.
When police and EMS arrived, De La Cruz was still unconscious, but he was later pronounced dead at the scene.
While police believed he broke his neck during the freak accident, a city medical examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.
The Queens native was a father of a four-year-old son. His father, Jose De La Cruz, told the New York Daily News, “What can I say? He did a mistake.”
“He was a nice guy,” the father said.
“He was a good father,” he added.
The accident comes a day after many New Yorker’s held celebrations, ringing in the new year. However, the ongoing crime rate in the city is an issue that continues to plague New York City boroughs.
On Saturday, Jan.1, the city reported its first homicide of the year as police identified a woman, Shwesin Nyuntwai, 41, who was found with multiple stab wounds near 23rd Street and Broadway in Astoria, Queens, NBC New York reported.
Nyuntwai was rushed to Astoria General Hospital where she died, the NYPD said.
The NYPD has initiated an investigation into the incident.
