Elderly Fil-Am dies after being pushed into BART train in San Francisco

Elderly Fil-Am Corazon Dandan was pushed into a Milbrae-bound train at the Powell Street Station, located at Powell and Market Streets. Image: BART website

SAN FRANCISCO – An elderly Filipino American woman died after being pushed into an oncoming BART train in San Francisco Monday night, according to authorities.

The suspect – 49-year-old Trevor Belmont, also known as Hoak Taing – was arrested after he allegedly pushed the victim, later identified as 74-year-old Corazon Dandan of San Mateo County, into a Milbrae-bound train at Powell Street Station, the BART Police Department said in a news release.

Dandan was pushed as a train approached around 11:05 on Monday, hit her head on the train and fell on the platform, BART PD said. She was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where she later died.

Corazon Dandan / Photo from Alvin Dandan

Belmont was arrested on the platform of the Powell Street Station shortly after the incident. He will be booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of homicide.

“This is an active investigation. BART PD is interviewing witnesses and processing evidence,” Bart PD said. “The investigation includes the review of surveillance video. Investigators are still working to determine a motive for this incident.”

The incident is this year’s first homicide in the BART system, which is facing a decline in ridership because of safety issues.

A survey done by the Bay Area Council recently found 45 percent of people are choosing not to ride BART because they don’t think it’s safe.

Before 2020, BART was averaging around 400,000 riders a weekday. Now, they are only averaging between 100,000 and 150,000 per weekday.

BART PD’s July 2023 report shows there were 224 violent crime cases for that period, which was higher than 2022 for the same time period, 180. Robberies made up 136 of those July 2023 cases, and in 2022, robberies made up 114 of the 180 violent crimes in the same time period.

Arrests on BART increased 62 percent last year compared with 2022. The jump comes as BART PD has been aggressively recruiting new officers and ensuring safety staff are riding more trains to increase their visible safety presence.