A woman was killed by a Chicago Transit Authority Red Line train after she dropped her phone on the tracks and jumped down to get it, police said. NBC 5’s Natalie Martinez reports.
Video leaked to social media shows a security guard standing near a woman who was fatally struck by a Red Line train as she attempted to pick up a dropped phone from the tracks.
The video shows a guard stand on the platform with a dog as the woman looks for her phone for about 20 seconds before the train hits her.
Felon Smith, 37, had climbed down from the platform about 12:40 p.m. on June 27 to retrieve her dropped phone at the 69th Street station, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. She was struck by a train and pronounced dead at the scene.
The Chicago Transit Authority found that the video of the death was “inappropriately recorded from CTA’s video systems by what appears to be a cellphone camera,” CTA spokesman Brian Steele said in a statement.
The guard shown in the video was employed by AGB innovative security solutions, a Chicago-based company, Steele said. A spokesperson with AGB was not available Monday evening for comment.
“Regarding the incident itself, CTA is also undertaking a thorough review, including interviews with employees and witnesses,” Steele said.
Steele said that anyone who leaked the video would be discharged and that “CTA will pursue all applicable criminal penalties.”
