Conductor Reportedly Closed Train Doors On Kid & Dragged Him 40 Feet

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The 9-Year-Old’s Mom Is Lawsuit-Ready

A New York MTA conductor is catching all the blame for his reckless endangerment of a 9-year-old boy.

According to the New York Post, Melissa Capers is filing a lawsuit against the conductor for an incident that occurred at the Atlantic Avenue Station in Brooklyn on December 10, 2017. Capers says her son was boarding a Manhattan-bound “L” train when the conductor closed the door on him, causing half his body to be trapped outside the train. Then, the train proceeded to move, dragging the kid about 40 feet, according to the lawsuit papers filed on Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

The boy was with his mom’s boyfriend when the incident occurred and according to Capers’ attorney, Daniel Leav, the kid suffered two bilateral fractures to both femurs. He had to undergo extensive surgery to treat the damages.

“He was dragged approximately 40 feet before he fell,” Leav said. The lawyer also said the conductor only stopped the train because “people were screaming.”

Since the incident, the boy has been wheelchair-bound and it’s only recently that he started learning to walk again.

The kid was identified as “J.C.” in court papers and he was “attempting to enter the train that was in the station when suddenly the train doors closed upon infant plaintiff without warning. He was caused to fall between the train gap and the platform, he was caused to be twisted and dragged for several feet.”

Capers is suing for negligence and unspecified damages. “We think the NYC transit system was obviously negligent,” Leav commented. “That was a little boy who was trapped in the doors.”

The MTA has yet to respond to the incident or the lawsuit.

Though it’s quite common for passengers to get caught in train doors, conductors usually open the doors to let stuck customers in. The conductor accused in the lawsuit has yet to comment publically on his mindstate during the December 2017 incident.