- GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING
A 65-year-old man was dragged to his death after his coat got caught in a set of closing train doors.
Jonathan Ignatious Edwards was seen in horrific footage being dragged 100 yards down a platform at Beaverton Transit Center in Beaverton in December 2023. The area is a ritzy suburb of Portland that is home to Nike’s global headquarters.
The disturbing footage was only made public this week after pressure from The Oregonian newspaper, whose journalists said the release of the video was in the public interest to address possible safety concerns on a mass-transit system.
Edwards died from his injuries 26 days later after being paralyzed from the neck down, according to his family.
In the clip, Edwards was seen disembarking a MAX light rail train wearing a long black trench coat before seemingly attempting to reboard at the last minute as the doors close.
It is unclear what prompted him to change his mind at the last minute.
His attempt to reboard failed and Edwards ended up with his coat caught between the closed doors. He was seen tugging at it as the train began moving down the platform.
Edwards departed the train before proceeding to turn back to get back on, when he was coat was stuck in the door
He was dragged 100 yards down the train platform, a report later found. He died from his injuries 26 days later
TriMet, which runs Portland’s trains and buses, refused to release the rest of the clip to spare Edwards’ family the horror of watching his death.
First responders later shared an image of themselves securing the fatally-injured Edwards to a stretcher.
TriMet paid his family $830,000 to fend off a potential lawsuit, with that figure only coming to light after relatives sued Legacy Emanuel Medical Center for $9 million.
Further details of that lawsuit have not emerged, but the Daily Mail has contacted Legacy Emanuel for comment.
TriMet’s incident report said that after around 100 yards of Edwards being stuck in the door the operator brought the train to a stop.
A spokesperson for the agency said that an emergency inspection of all train doors and their ‘sensitive edges’ followed the incident.
The ‘sensitive edges’ are supposed to open upon contact with people, clothing or other objects. The agency found there was no fault in any of the doors.
It remains unclear how the door’s edges could be functioning as normal if Edwards’ coat was caught and then stuck in the door.
According to his family, who filed a lawsuit against the medical center he was held in, he was left paralyzed from the neck down and suffered an agonizing death
Fire and rescue crews are seen in the above image securing Edwards to a stretcher following the incident in December of 2023
Following the incident, TriMet updated procedures ordering train operators to step outside the train and check the doorways if their view is obstructed.
The agency initially declined to release the video as the outlets attempted to investigate what went wrong that day.
After an appeal to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, Chief Deputy DA Adam Gibbs and DA Nathan Vasquez ordered the clip to be released.
According to the outlets, Gibbs said that the release was beneficial to the public’s interest in fully understanding what happened that day.
TriMet said that the man’s family had asked the video not to be released, which was ultimately shot down.
Gibbs said: ”The public has a clear safety interest in observing the specific interaction between a TriMet passenger and a MAX train that resulted in the passenger becoming stuck.
‘This is an issue of public safety. Whether or not this portion of the video would unreasonably invade the family’s privacy, I find that petitioner has established by clear and convincing evidence that the public interest requires its disclosure in this instance.’
The family have sued due to negligence saying Edwards died a horrific death in January 2024 due to the hospital, according to their lawsuit.
A TriMet statement said: ‘Our hearts go out to the loved ones of Mr. Edwards. This was a unique incident, and TriMet has taken additional steps to prevent this from ever occurring again.’
