The family of a woman who was pushed into a moving train at a downtown San Francisco station is suing the transit agency, alleging systemic safety failures led to her death.
Corazon Dandan, 74, was killed July 1 when Trevor Belmont, a homeless man who had been banned from BART for criminal behavior, pushed her into an oncoming train, officials said.
The Daly City resident was returning home after her night shift as a telephone operator at Hilton’s Parc 55 hotel, where she worked for 30 years.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court, says BART neglected to maintain adequate security staffing and allowed fare evaders like Belmont to access platforms without restriction.
Brought by Dandan’s six siblings and nephew, the suit seeks damages for wrongful death, elder abuse, dangerous condition of public property, and survivor claims.
“We seek to hold BART accountable for its failure to keep my aunt safe,” Alvin Dandan said in a statement Wednesday. He previously told The Standard that his aunt helped pay for his college education. “Through this case, we hope that what happened to my aunt never happens to anyone else. In her name, and in her memory, we would like to see justice.”
At a press conference Wednesday, he said that his aunt often rode BART with her female coworkers to make them feel safer. But on the night of her death, she was working — and traveling — solo.
“My aunt loved San Francisco,” Alvin Dandan, a doctor, told reporters. He said he fears that safety is still a problem at BART stations. “Something’s got to change.”
Belmont had been ordered by a judge to stay away from BART stations but repeatedly violated that order. His struggles with mental health led to him missing court hearings last year. According to county jail records, he faces a Feb. 11 hearing at the Hall of Justice.
“BART has failed to enforce or institute bans against dangerous individuals from their services when such individuals are charged for crimes,” the complaint states.
The suit cites a November letter from state and community leaders to Gov. Gavin Newsom highlighting BART’s safety crisis. According to the letter, a 2023 safety survey found that 0% of Asian American and Pacific Islander respondents described BART as “very safe,” while 78% worried about becoming crime victims on trains.
“I saw my sister the week before she died and worried for her safety, taking BART late at night every day,” Dandan’s youngest brother, Reynaldo Dandan, said in a statement. “My worst fears came true.”
Two days after Dandan’s death, state and local officials wrote to Newsom requesting the deployment of California Highway Patrol officers at BART stations to prevent similar incidents.
“This lawlessness has to stop. BART has long been on notice about the need for improved safety and protection,” said Nanci Nishimura, an attorney for the law firms Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy and Pritzker Levine, representing Dandan’s family.
BART officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.