“Stop, stop, stop.”
Those were the frantic words directed over TriMet West Air Control on Dec. 21, 2023 — moments after a moving train dragged a man across the platform at the Beaverton Transit Center.
Recently obtained documents paint a picture of confusion — and chaos — when 65-year-old Jonathan Edwards was caught in the doors of a MAX Light Rail train. Edwards died 26 days later after suffering injuries, and TriMet has stayed silent since the initial incident. Now, the transit agency could be facing a wrongful death suit.
What exactly transpired was unclear when TriMet first announced MAX Blue and Red Line service disruptions around 10:45 a.m. that Thursday. After mistakenly reporting that there was a collision between a person and a train, the agency later clarified that a man wearing a long coat was caught in the doorway of a train and “pulled along” the station platform.
At the time, the transit agency said the man, not identified at the time, was transported to the hospital. “We do not know the severity of their injuries,” TriMet communications director Roberta Altstadt said at the time.
Initial confusion — and lingering questions
Internal TriMet records and Beaverton police reports depict several differing accounts of what happened. Nearly seven months later, questions remain.
According to a TriMet accident report, the incident occurred at 10:26 a.m., with police, fire and medical crews arriving within minutes. Edwards was transported to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center at 10:38 a.m., and the train was evacuated before the line was restored at 11:25 a.m.
TriMet Rail Supervisor Ivy Rose Moreno said in a supervisor report filed the day after the incident that she found Edwards unresponsive, lying on the tracks. Moreno was in the Beaverton station’s breakroom when she heard commotion over air control; after she went to check outside, another TriMet employee flagged her down.
“When I approached (Edwards), I observed him lying face down and noticed his hand was moving slightly,” Moreno said in the report. “I reported to control that I did not observe any blood, and that the person was still moving.”
After the initial glance, Moreno stated that she noticed a pool of blood under Edward’s head when Beaverton police officers arrived minutes later to examine him.
Beaverton officer Daniel Frye was one of the first responders on the scene, finding Edwards along the northern-most tracks just west of the platform. While Frye and another officer attempted to render aid, the officer reported that he could see “a significant laceration” to his forehead.
According to Frye, there were no other visible injuries, and “no lifesaving measures needed to be taken.”
What exactly happened?
The puzzle is still coming together for how Edwards became caught in the doors, with varying accounts given to police.
According to a police report, Frye spoke with TriMet security Ruben Guzman Valero, who reportedly told the officer that he saw Edwards standing by the train doors while the train was stopped.
“He said the male's hand was in his coat pocket when the doors closed on it. (Valero) said the male pulled at his jacket to try to free it and the train started to move west. (Valero) told me the train started moving and the male started to walk then run along with the train with his hand and jacket still stuck in the train doors,” Frye said.
Frye went on to write that Valero said he saw Edwards eventually fall and get dragged by the moving train, with his head making contact with a metal sign at the west end of the platform.
“(Valero) said the male continued to be dragged along for a few more feet until he broke free from the closed doors,” Frye reported.
Another security officer, Aleksey Markan, also spoke to Frye, giving a slightly different account of what happened.
Frye said Markan told him that Edwards ran alongside the train while caught in the doors until he struck his head on the metal sign. The police report also said that the security officer mentioned how he alerted the train operator to stop when he realized Edwards was stuck.
Officer Bryan Dalton also spoke with bystander Jose Delgado. In a police report, Dalton wrote that Delgado was at a crosswalk when he saw Edwards exit from the very last car of the westbound train, but the man’s jacket got caught.
“(Delgado) said the train drug the man and that the man’s head hit one of the metal posts near the crosswalk,” Dalton said.
Dalton later went on to delineate what he observed from two surveillance videos taken at Beaverton Transit Center.
“In the first video, Edwards exits the train and takes a few steps onto the platform. Right as the doors begin to close, Edwards turns around and walks back towards the train,” Dalton said. “He is holding onto his coat with his right hand and reaches his right and left hands towards the closing door. He pulls both hands back before the doors close, but his jacket gets closed in the door.”
“In the second clip, the train can be seen leaving the platform and passing the crosswalk,” Dalton continued. “As the rear of the train approaches the crosswalk, Edwards can be seen being dragged by the train. On the west side of the crosswalk, Edwards' head strikes a metal fence post. He then tumbles out of his coat and lands on the tracks.”
What went wrong?
TriMet supervisor Austin Hilstad arrived at the scene after emergency responders transported Edwards to the hospital. In a supervisor report, Hilstad mentioned that he found a black jacket that was caught in “the sensitive edge of the two door leaves” — where the operator should have been alerted of a door obstruction.
Train operator Aldo Viloria told police that he did not see Edwards, and Dalton noted that Viloria was “relieved” to hear that the man was alive when he left.
“Viloria told me he was facing west, running westbound, and serviced a platform to his right,” Dalton wrote in the police report. “When he stopped, he put the train in neutral so pedestrians trying to cross in front of the train know the train is not moving.”
In an operator report written by Viloria, he states that he “watched as passengers got on and off the train through video monitors.”
“I then called my signal, closed my doors, watching on the monitors for any last-minute passengers,” Viloria said. “Once the doors cleared, I then waited a second for a proper signal, scanned the crosswalk for pedestrians ahead of me and placed (the train) into forward…”
Viloria said he increased speed up to 10 miles per hour before he heard West Air Control instruct him to “stop, stop, stop.” He said he immediately halted and listened to further instructions.
In terms of anything that could have been wrong with the train, Dalton wrote that the operator reported that his mirrors were “funky” and “needed to be tightened,” although Viloria said he had two camera monitors that he could rely on.
“He said he did not see anything in the mirror or in the camera monitors. Later, he told me he had to adjust the mirrors several times earlier in the day before they finally stayed in position,” Dalton wrote. “However, he said when he came through the (Robertson) tunnel at 55 miles per hour, the wind blew them out of adjustment. He said he was going to readjust them when he got to the end of line, because he still had use of the monitors.”
The aftermath
According to an online obituary , Edwards died Jan. 16. Three days later, an attorney sent a tort claim to TriMet's legal counsel, stating that they were retained to represent Edwards and his estate regarding bodily injuries and wrongful death in relation to the MAX train incident.
The filed notice asked TriMet for the name of the driver, as well as the preservation of all incident reports, correspondence, media and other relevant evidence. The exact claims against TriMet and the driver were not laid out in the initial legal request.
It’s been six months since the request was sent, and it is still not entirely certain whether a suit will proceed. Robert R. Parker, Jr., one of the attorneys representing Edwards’ estate, confirmed that a potential lawsuit remains on the table as of Tuesday, June 11.
“We are proceeding forward with the acquisition of all the necessary information, research and other concerns to address it accordingly,” Parker said.
TriMet has refrained from commenting on the issue, citing its policy of not speaking on matters where there is "pending litigation.”
A spokesperson with the transit agency did confirm that Viloria was terminated following the incident.
Most Popular
Comments / 0