Shocking video shows NYC subway passenger putting unhinged man in deadly chokehold

Dramatic new video shows train passengers pinning down a man in a deadly incident at a train station this week. WARNING: Graphic

WARNING: Graphic content

Dramatic new video shows a train passenger taking matters into his own hands, pinning down an unhinged man in a deadly incident at a Manhattan subway station this week.

The 24-year-old passenger stepped in after the homeless man, identified by sources as 30-year-old Jordan Neely, began going on an aggressive rant on a northbound train on Monday afternoon, according to police and a witness who took the video.

“He starts to make a speech,” freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez said in Spanish during an interview with the New York Post, referring to Neely.

“He started screaming in an aggressive manner,” Vazquez said.

“He said he had no food, he had no drink, that he was tired and doesn’t care if he goes to jail. He started screaming all these things, took off his jacket, a black jacket that he had, and threw it on the ground.”

That’s when he said the first passenger came up behind Neely and took him to the ground in a chokehold. Vazquez said he kept him there for some 15 minutes.

A subway passenger held another in a fatal headlock. Picture: Juan Vazquez

Shocking moment passenger ‘choked to death' on train. Picture: Juan Vazquez

The approximately three minute and a half long video shot by Vazquez shows the blond subway-rider lying on the floor of the train with his arm wrapped around the man’s neck.

The train was stopped, with the doors opened, at the Broadway-Lafayette Street/Bleeker Street station, where Vazquez said the conductor had called 911.

Neely, who was living on the streets and had a history of mental health issues, lost consciousness after being put in the chokehold, and EMS workers at the station were unable to revive him, police and law enforcement sources said, the Post reports.

The blonde passenger, who sources told the publication is a Marine veteran, was taken into custody and later released without charges.

The investigation is ongoing and authorities were waiting on autopsy results before deciding whether to pursue charges against the younger man, sources said.

He declined to comment when reached by the Post, saying: “I am not interested in answering any questions, thank you.”

Vazquez, who was on his way to Yonkers, a city on the Hudson River, a little more than 30km northeast of New York City, at about 2.30pm on Monday, said Neely barged into the train at the Second Avenue station and quickly began screaming and yelling, prompting many people to move away.

Police are investigating the shocking choking death of a man at a New York subway station.

Video taken later shows the man flailing his arms and legs in an effort to free himself as the younger blond passenger holds him in a headlock and another bystander helps to hold him on the floor of the subway train.

“He moved his arms but he couldn’t express anything,” Vazquez said of Neely. “All he could do was move (his) arms.

“Then suddenly he just stopped moving,” Vazquez recalled. “He was out of strength.”

A person can be heard in the video expressing worry about Neely’s wellbeing off-camera. The man who had held Neely on the floor replies “he’s not squeezing no more”.

The two then let Neely go after a few seconds, leaving him lying on his side on the floor.

“None of us who were there thought he was in danger of dying,” Vazquez said. “We thought he just passed out or ran out of air.”

Vazquez said he had mixed feelings about the fatal encounter, particularly since Neely had not physically attacked anyone on the train before he was taken down.

“I think that in one sense it’s fine that citizens want to jump in and help. But I think as heroes we have to use moderation,” he said.

“This would never have happened if the police had shown up within five minutes,” he added. “Then we’d be talking about a true hero. It’s complicated.”

This article originally appeared on The New York Post, and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Shocking video shows NYC subway passenger putting unhinged man in deadly chokehold