BROOKLYN — An R train operator was temporarily detained by police when he fled the station after fatally striking a man who jumped onto the tracks Monday morning, according to the MTA.
The train's operator, whose name and age weren't immediately released, ran out of the train station at 77th Street station at Fourth Avenue about 10 a.m. after his train struck a man who leaped from the Manhattan-bound platform, NYPD and MTA officials said.
The man on the tracks was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
Police caught the train driver, who's worked with the MTA since 1993, at 76th Street and Fourth Avenue, and detained him for obstructing government administration, transit spokesman Kevin Ortiz said.
The operator was released without charges on Monday afternoon, according to Transit Workers Union Local 100 spokesman Pete Donohue.
Police took him to Lutheran Medical Center to undergo a psychological evaluation, an NYPD spokesman said.
"You can’t exaggerate the horror and emotional trauma than an operator experiences when someone jumps in front of his or her train to commit suicide," said Donohue.
"They often require years of therapy and counseling," he added.
