Man recalls frightening story of getting pushed on subway tracks, Good Samaritans rushing to help
MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- Standing on crutches, Jonathan Lewis is lucky to be alive.
"You hear about it, but don't think it's going to happen to you," Lewis said.
Unfortunately it did happen - on Wednesday, Lewis was loaded into an ambulance. Just moments earlier, he was standing on the 42nd Street subway platform at 8th Avenue with his sister after watching a Broadway show, and quickly noticed an odd man.
"Some guy was muttering to himself - he was walking towards us," Lewis said.
Regretfully, Lewis didn't listen to his instinct, and the man started talking to him.
"I hear him say 'you wanna go on the tracks?' and I was like 'what?'" added Lewis.
Within seconds, Lewis was on the ground.
"He locks eyes with me, and sure enough he shoves me and I hit the platform. I hear my knee pop," says Lewis.
The 35-year-old got up - and then there was a second push.
Confused and injured, Lewis knew he was in big trouble when he heard the train.
"I hear 'honk, honk!' then I have to get up but I can't put any weight on my right leg," said Lewis.
Good Samaritans were able to stop the train while his sister and others lifted him up to safety. EMS workers then rushed him to the hospital.
Lewis says he only has a sprained knee - but it is badly sprained.
Sprains and bruises will heal, but it is a close call he is living to tell about -- and he says he will listen to his instincts when he finds the courage to get back on the subway platform.
"I'm never not going to listen to my instincts again - that was my big mistake," he said.
The suspect was arrested on the platform moments after the assault. Police have charged Wilson Garcia, 27, with assault and reckless endangerment.
Investigators have also realized Garcia was involved in two other sexual crimes involving groping women back in May.
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