Cop, bystander jump on subway tracks to save unconscious man

NEW YORK - An NYPD police officer went after a commuter who fainted and fell onto the subway tracks at a station in the Bronx on Wednesday morning. 

A bystander captured the rescue on video, which the NYPD posted on social media and has been viewed more than 100,000 times on Twitter alone. The video shows Police Officer Ludin Lopez hopping onto the rail bed to help the unconscious straphanger. 

"Without even thinking, we all responded the way we were trained to," Lopez said at a news conference on Thursday. "I jumped onto the tracks, I helped the passenger."

Lopez was with police officers Ricardo Peguero, Catherine Caban, and Anil Sugrim at the 3rd Avenue-149th Street Station in Mott Haven when the passenger fainted and fell onto the tracks at about 11 a.m. Lopez and an unidentified bystander jumped onto the tracks to help the unconscious person. 

"Thankfully, this gentleman — I don't know who he is — but if he were here I would shake his hand," Lopez said.

Meantime, Peguero signaled the oncoming train.

"Any time you want to get the attention of a [train operator], you wave your flashlight left to right, and they know that means to slow the train down or stop," Peguero said.

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Then onlookers pulled the man and good Samaritan to safety while Caban helped Lopez back up to the platform.

"I was very nervous, we all were," Caban said. "But I think we handled it well."

Their commanding officer, Capt. Gregory Mackie, praised his officers. 

"What they do exemplifies what New York City police officers do on a daily basis," Mackie said. "They help their communities and they genuinely look to create a bond between the police and the public, and in this case, saving a life."

FOX 5 NY has learned the commuter who fell onto the tracks is going to be OK.