QUEENS — The Forest Hills police precinct is planning to visit local junior high schools in order to warn students about the danger of jumping onto the tracks after a 13-year-old Rego Park girl was fatally struck by an oncoming train when she went to retrieve her phone earlier this month.
In the upcoming weeks, officers from the 112th Precinct and Transit District 20 will visit J.H.S. 190 Russell Sage at 68-17 Austin St. in Forest Hills and J.H.S. Stephen A. Halsey at 63-55 102nd St. in Rego Park, police officials said.
Dina Kadribasic, who jumped onto the tracks of the 63rd Drive-Rego Park station on April 2 and was killed by an oncoming R train as she tried to climb back onto the platform, was a student at J.H.S. 190 Russell Sage, officials said.
“We are putting together an education package,” said Heidi Chain, president of the 112th Precinct Community Council, at a meeting earlier this week.
Deputy Inspector Robert Ramos, the precinct's commanding officer, called the incident “heartbreaking.”
“It’s a very tragic story,” he said. "We want to get the word out and hopefully these kids will listen to us and understand that it’s just a cellphone, that’s all it is.”
In the future, the precinct's members are also hoping to visit local high schools, officials said.
Following the accident, the MTA said that anyone who dropped an item onto the tracks should report it to the station agent, and never try and go on the tracks. The agency has special teams that go out and help people retrieve lost items.
Friends of the teen started an online fundraiser seeking to help her family raise money for an awareness campaign relatives hope to launch to prevent similar tragedies.
As of Friday, the fundraiser had raised more than $35,300.
