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Video Captures Passenger Dragging An Unconscious Man Off A Blue Line Train In Long Beach

A screenshot shows part of an incident caught on videotape at a Blue Line station in Long Beach. (courtesy NBC4)
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Long Beach police are investigating a disturbing incident at a Metro Blue Line station earlier this week that was caught at least partly on video by another passenger.

Detectives from the Violent Crimes Detail are reviewing the video, according to a statement from the Long Beach Police Department. They are working with the Los Angeles County District Attorney to "determine if any criminal negligence occurred."

The video in question captured the moments after a passenger wearing a suit appeared to have dragged a man off the train and onto a station platform. The man being dragged seems to be unconscious and is naked from the waist down when the video begins.

Witnesses said the passenger who removed the unconscious man from the train car said he didn't want to delay his ride home while waiting for paramedics.

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The incident happened Wednesday night at the Willow Station on the Blue Line, according to police, who said they were called to the platform about 10:30 p.m., after fire officials responded to the scene. Earlier news reports incorrectly gave the station as Wardlow, which is one stop north.

Long Beach police said Friday that they had identified "all individuals" involved in the incident and made contact with the man in the suit. The passenger dragged from the train, described by police as a "potential victim," was taken to a hospital by the Long Beach Fire Department.

No arrests have been made in a investigation described as ongoing.

The full video, posted to YouTube, is unedited and includes nudity and repeated explicit language. [You can watch the full uncensored video at this link.]

Witnesses said the unconscious man, who was wearing a medical wristband, seemed to be suffering from seizures and collapsed.

After dragging the man from the train, the passenger who removed him pulls up the man's sweatpants. Then he gets back on the train, tosses the other man's belongings onto the platform and sits back down.

"He tries to make the excuse that everybody on the train wants to go home," the man who filmed the incident, who gave his name as Billion Godsun, told our media partner NBC4. "Pretty much everybody that was on that car... was more concerned about getting the man who collapsed some help."

A few minutes later, after the train remained at the station, the suited passenger gets off to check on the unconscious man. He is followed by the person filming the incident. At that point, a sharp exchange between the two men takes place.

"You took him off the train because you didn't give a f---," the man taking the video tells the man in the suit.

"I thought the man was drunk," the man replies.

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"It don't matter what the f--- you thought," the man filming says.

"Obviously, this is very disturbing and we never want to see this on our system," Metro officials said in a statement. "We're getting all the facts, including reviewing the video from the train and the platform, and we'll share more details when they're available.

The video has sparked outrage.

UPDATES:

4:35 p.m.: This story updated with information that the police know all parties involved.

12:05 p.m.: This story updated with a statement from Long Beach police. Based on that information, it also corrects the location of the station where the incident took place.

This article originally published at 10:36 a.m.

Meghan McCarty Carino contributed to this report.


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