THIS is the shocking moment a passenger was almost pushed into the path of an oncoming train by a crazed attacker in a terrifying assault.
The victim, Peter Michael Walbrun, was reading on his phone when 26-year-old Elisio Melendez lunged at him from behind, prosecutors say.
Video footage shows Melendez popping his head out from behind an elevator, apparently checking for the approaching train, before shoving Walbrun toward the rails.
Walbrun managed to catch himself and shove Melendez back.
The attacker fled the scene after a brief struggle.
The vile attack occurred at Northgate Station in Seattle, Washington, just before 6pm on March 19, as Walbrun waited near the platform.
Walbrun later told police: “I was reading articles on my phone when he shoved me.”
The suspect was dressed in a black hoodie pulled over his head and black pants during the attack.
Detectives with the King County Sheriff’s Office identified Melendez using surveillance footage from a nearby Hampton Inn.
Detective Dirk Graham wrote in charging documents that Melendez’s movements were traced to a behavioural health facility near the station.
During questioning, Melendez allegedly told police the man in the footage was “someone that maybe looked like him” or “my twin that I don’t have,” according to the affidavit.
He was arrested on March 24 at the King County Correctional Facility under a $750,000 bond.
Prosecutor Leesa Manion wrote in charging documents: “The facts of this case are shocking and unquestionably demonstrate the extreme danger the defendant poses to the public.”
Melendez has no convictions but a violent history.
In 2019, he was charged with second-degree assault and domestic violence for stabbing his sister in the stomach.
That case was dismissed in 2021 after he was found incompetent to stand trial due to schizophrenia and a history of mental health treatment.
He was also charged with fourth-degree assault in 2017 but never convicted.
An active warrant has been in place since 2021, after Melendez allegedly failed to appear for a hearing.
He has not yet entered a plea for the current attempted second-degree murder charges.
At his Tuesday arraignment, a judge ordered a competency evaluation.
