A 45-year-old homeless man died after riding atop a New York City subway train, something his friends said happened after he took a form of synthetic marijuana.
A police officer walks down a subway platform in New York, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. (AP)
"Grump," as the man was known according to his friend Pablo Reyes, suffered a severe head injury Wednesday after hitting it while "subway surfing" and falling between cars.
"He was hanging out getting high. I told him, ‘Stop getting high off that s**t. It ain’t no good for you," Reyes said, telling the New York Daily News that the victim, who was not formally identified, had taken a drug known as K2. "He probably was hallucinating."
Neighborhood news site DNAinfo reported more on Reyes account of how Grump was injured:
Reyes said "Grump" was riding between cars as the train pulled into the station and climbed up on the subway as the train slowed down."He climbed it and stuck his head out," Reyes said.
When he got to the top of the car, Grump spread his arms, but then tried to climb back down when he saw the steel beam approaching, Reyes said.
"He hit it with his head," Reyes said.
Reyes said he tried to pull Grump up from between the cars.
"He was trying to talk, mumbling, 'Help, help, help me'" in a barely audible voice, he said.
Reyes told DNAinfo he was in shock, never seeing such an injury with so much blood before.
Grump was still alive on the scene but died later at an area hospital.
“Over the years there have been incidents of individuals involved in dangerous behavior and as we do with other potentially harmful actions, we created car cards warning of the (obvious) dangers,” a Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman said, according to the New York Post. “Subway surfing is simply one of the dumbest things you can do.”
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