This week, a veteran NYPD officer distraught over being called to testify in the ticket-fixing scandal which has engulfed the police force attempted (but failed) to commit suicide. Officer Robert McGee, who is currently at North Central Bronx Hospital because of burns from clutching the third rail, is telling friends that he's "ashamed of this whole thing." One source close to McGee told the News, "He said it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. He's 62, with 30 years [on the job] and an unblemished record, and to go out like this is not the way to retire. You want to retire the way you came in, with pride." more ›

A veteran NYPD officer distraught over being called to testify in the ticket-fixing scandal which has engulfed the police force this year allegedly attempted to commit suicide earlier today. Officer Robert McGee, 62, a three-decade veteran and union delegate assigned to the 43rd Precinct, jumped in the tracks on the No. 1 line at a Riverdale subway station just before 5 a.m. this morning, and tried to electrocute himself by clutching the third rail. Earlier that night, McGee's wife had called cops and said he "was suicidal." more ›

A man miraculously survived a roll in the hay with the third rail Monday night, despite being zapped with 625-volts of electricity. Witnesses say Andy Morris, 44, was pushed onto the tracks at the Broadway Junction station in East New York after a drawn out drunken argument. "He first started twitching and then you started seeing smoke coming from his head. You could smell the flesh burning," witness Marlon Probherbs told the Daily News. more ›

In an accident that briefly shut down service between Hicksville and Huntington yesterday afternoon, a Syosset Taxi driver crashed his cab through a fence and onto the third rail of LIRR tracks near Jackson Avenue. It then caught fire (dramatic photo here), with both the driver and passenger inside. more ›

An off-duty cop managed to quickly save a woman set on killing herself after she jumped onto the subway tracks at the Fulton Street G station last night. The woman allegedly asked Officer James Deligio to point out the third rail to her, and he told the Daily News, "I didn't think much of it until she jumped on the tracks." Deligio managed to pull her to safety just before the train came down the tracks. The woman was transported to Long Island College Hospital, and will be evaluated. more ›

Some more details about the death of the subway maintenance supervisor who was electrocuted by the third rail at the Beach 90th Street station. James Knell, 45, a 13-year veteran, had been working on a project replacing outdoor track panels. TWU Local 100 president John Samuelson said, "The third rail was turned off during the work. It was then energized at the end of the job to run a test train. Jimmy then went back on the tracks to retrieve a bucket. It was wet, and he slipped and fell onto the third rail." His wife's father said that Knell was subbing for another worker, "He shouldn't have been out there working in the rain like that." more ›

The Daily News reports, "A veteran city transit worker was electrocuted early Monday on elevated A-line tracks in Queens... The man died about 4:30 a.m. when he apparently tripped and fell on the electrified third rail at the Beach 90th St. station in Rockaway Beach, the sources said." It's unclear if the morning's rain contributed to his death, which is the first NYC Transit fatality since April 2007, when two works were killed within five days (one at Columbus Circle, the other at Hoyt-Schemerrhorn). more ›

An SUV plunged 30 feet onto Metro-North tracks near the Mount Vernon East Station last night after its driver, Stephanie Cacho, swerved to avoid a bicyclist. 1010 WINS reports, "Her Jeep Cherokee crashed through an iron fence and fell onto the tracks below West First Street, narrowly missing four electrified third rails, according to MTA Spokesman Dan Brucker, who called her survival 'astounding.'" Brucker said that if the SUV hit one of the third rails, it would have exploded (!). Good Samaritan Rohan Britton pulled Cacho out of her sunroof, "It was already mashed up a little bit so I just bent it open, opened it and pulled her out," and he himself was almost hit by an oncoming train. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] The MTA is looking into a horrible incident that occurred at the City College stop on the No. 1 train at 137th Street and Broadway on the morning of January 4th. Ronald Melichar, an official at the Department of Small Business Services, apparently had some sort of seizure and fell onto the tracks, where he was seen twitching and rolling up against the third rail. A witness ran to the token booth and urged the clerk to shut off the power, so the clerk got on the phone to arrange to turn the power off. more ›