By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
DOWNTOWN — A mugger was struck and killed by an E train early Thursday morning as he tried to escape after robbing a man on a downtown street, police said.
The NYPD said officers responded to a call about 1:54 a.m. from a man who claimed he'd been mugged for $150 at knifepoint, near the intersection of Church Street and Park Place.
The victim, 32, chased his mugger down into the subway entrance at the intersection and called 911, the NYPD said. As police arrived on the scene, the mugger jumped down to the subway tracks and attempted to grab on to a passing train before falling underneath it.
"They tell him stop, don't move," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said officers told the mugger.
The NYPD refuted an earlier statement by an MTA spokesman reported by DNAinfo by insisting that police did not chase the mugger.
The commissioner added that the mugger had attempted to rob another person near Park Row earlier in the evening.
The assailant, Bryan Feeley, 20, was taken to New York Downtown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Service on the E line was disrupted early morning as police investigated the death.
Bram Teitelman, 39, of Jersey City, was walking past the subway station and saw the victim being brough out by emergency crews.
"I didn't notice him moving," Teitelman said. "One leg of his trousers was cut off and he was bleeding a lot."
