Charges were announced by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Wednesday against a homeless man who is suspected of pushing an Asian woman,74, into the path of a speeding train on Monday night.
At the BART Powell Street Station on Monday at 11:06 p.m. PDT, Trevor Belmont, 49, was taken into custody by Bay Area Rapid Transit police shortly after he was accused of pushing Corazon Dandan into an approaching train.
Dandan collapsed into the platform after hitting her head on the train.
She was taken by paramedics to San Francisco General Hospital, where she passed away.
Belmont was accused of committing severe bodily harm to a vulnerable person and was charged with one count of murder on Wednesday.
The crime was characterized by Jenkins as “tragic and truly shocking.”
“Unprovoked attacks, especially on our most vulnerable, are unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” he stated.
This Friday at 1:30 p.m., Belmont is expected to be arraigned. He is being sought to be detained pending trial, according to the district attorney’s office, because of “the public safety risk he poses.”
After finishing her work as a phone operator at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in Union Square, Dandan was waiting for her train to return to Daly City when she was shoved.
Belmont was promptly arrested, according to a statement from BART police. He was charged with elder abuse and murder on Tuesday morning.
According to her nephew Dr. Alvin Dandan, who spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle, Dandan was a “brave, independent woman” who arrived in the United States on her own in the 1980s after growing up in the Philippines.
Read Also:Â $50K Reward Announced for Information on Triple Shooting Suspect
He stated that she had a brief marriage, stayed single thereafter, and showed her nieces and nephews a great deal of generosity and kindness.
Alvin, an Illinois critical care physician, stated, “She put me through medical school.” He stated she was a frequent traveler and was currently developing a holiday house beside a lake in the Philippines.
During her more than 40 years of employment, Corazon was a “cherished employee” and “will always be remembered fondly by her St. Francis family,” hotel general manager Clif Clark told the Chronicle.
According to BART police, this year’s first homicide on the public transportation system occurred, and they are unsure of the motive.
