Man hit by train after robber leaves him to die

Instead of helping a man who had passed out on a subway track in Stockholm, a passer-by chose to rob the unconscious victim before leaving him to be run over by a train.

• Four jailed for drugging internet date victims (22 May 13)
• Man held over armed jewellery store robbery (19 May 13)
• Three shot in jewellery heist on busy street (18 May 13)

“This shows an unusual ruthlessness,” said Peter Brottman of the South Stockholm police to daily Aftonbladet.

The victim, referred to in the Swedish media as Johnny, 38, was returning home after a drunken night out on the town with his friends when he fell down on the tracks at Sandsborg metro station south of Stockholm.

Shortly thereafter he was robbed of all his valuables and left on the tracks before being run over by an oncoming train.

Despite sustaining serious injuries, Johnny nevertheless survived the accident, as only five metres of the train actually ran him over.

“He had amazing luck, really. The train came from the other direction and the driver managed to see him and pull the emergency brakes,” Brottman told Aftonbladet.

The incident, which occurred early on Sunday morning, was caught by security cameras and will be featured on the TV show Efterlyst ('Wanted') on TV3 on Wednesday evening.

Police are hoping that someone might be able to identify the perpetrator from the security camera footage.

The investigation into what happened has just begun but according to police they have been able to see from the footage that two people got off at the station shortly after 3am on Sunday morning.

“One was noticeably drunk and he was followed by another who seemed sober. The sober man was 'bothering' the inebriated one, but we don’t know why he was trying to pick his pockets or what he was doing,” Dan Östman of the Stockholm police told news agency TT.

After exiting the subway train, Johnny sat down on a bench but eventually got up again and walked along the platform before falling down on the tracks.

The man who had been bothering him then followed, jumped down on the tracks, got back up again, and exited the turnstiles.

“He pocketed a wallet, a mobile phone and a gold chain. Then he jumped back up on the platform and just walked away. He didn’t call the emergency services or notify the ticket collector at the station“ said Peter Brottman to TT.

Johnny is still being treated in hospital. Half of his left foot has been amputated and his right knee has been damaged to a point where he’ll need a prosthetic in future.

However, based on the footage, police have classified the incident as aggravated theft.

“We are classifying it as aggravated theft rather than robbery, as the latter implies that the perpetrator threatens or renders his victim in a state of powerlessness and we didn’t see anything like that. The person who was drunk had achieved that state of powerlessness himself," said Östman to TT.

That the perpetrator didn’t try to assist the helpless man on the tracks or call emergency services is not something he could be charged for.

“There is no law that says he has to take action,” said Östman to TT.

Johnny’s partner Louise is still in shock from what has happened.

“I have cried, cried and cried. When I heard what had happened I was angry, sad and full of hatred. I was shocked that anyone could leave a person on the track to die," she told Aftonbladet.

Video courtesy of Efterlyst and TV3play.se



The Local/rm
twitter.com/thelocalsweden