Woman pushed into oncoming BART train at Powell Station dies, suspect arrested

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- BART police say they have arrested a suspect in the killing of a woman at Powell Street Station Monday night.

The 74-year-old woman was reportedly pushed by the suspect as a Millbrae-bound train approached, hitting her head on the train and falling on the platform. She was taken to the hospital and later died.

She's been identified by her family as Corazon Dandan. Her nephew confirmed she was working as a telephone operator at the Marriott and this had been her commute route for the last 40 years. He says her family is "devastated."

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"We determined that the suspect approached the victim as a train was arriving at the station and pushed the victim towards the train causing the victim to collide with the train," said BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin.

Chief Franklin said his officers arrived on scene within four minutes and arrested the suspect within eight minutes of the incident.

The suspect has been identified as a 49-year-old transient man.

This is the first homicide on the BART system this year, police say.

BART PD arrested the suspect on the platform of Powell Street Station shortly after the incident, and he was booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of murder and elder abuse, according to jail booking logs.

Several frequent BART riders are now urging the city to do more to increase safety.

"I have been verbally accosted. I've seen other people being verbally accosted and I know that the BART police are here, and we see them doing what they should be doing but it's not enough," said BART rider Ana Showers. "I'm always carrying a weapon on me."

A BART employee who wants to remain anonymous said there is a drastic shift at night inside the Powell Street Station.

"It's just a different animal at night. There is a lot of stuff going on. There are fights. There are jump ins, there are people being shot. The city is not safe anymore," said the employee.

Chief Franklin said this incident doesn't represent BART.

"We've worked very hard to make BART the safest way to travel around the Bay Area and this incident is not representative of a typical day at BART but we always tell people to look at their surroundings," said Chief Frankin.

BART police say multiple witnesses stayed back to help and investigators are still working to determine a motive in the killing.

The San Francisco District Attorney's Office is reviewing the case but no charges have been filed at this time.