Passenger dies at Metro subway station

A passenger died late Tuesday at a Metro B (Red) Line station in Hollywood, but no foul play is suspected, according to officials.

Officers responded to the death just before 11 p.m. Tuesday at the Hollywood/ Vine station, Officer Matthew Cruz, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson, said. He said there was no evidence of foul play and it was believed to be a natural death but said the official cause of death will be determined by the Los Angeles County coroner.

The coroner’s office said early Wednesday that a cause of death has not been determined and that identification was pending notification of the next of kin.

Metro officials said that a B Line operator was notified about a passenger having trouble breathing and requested that medical personnel meet the train at the Hollywood/Vine station, according to Dave Sotero, a spokesperson for Metro. Although the team attempted lifesaving measures at the station, they were unsuccessful, Sotero said.

Though indications are that the death was not related to drugs, Sotero said Metro has recently seen improvements on that front, following a new campaign implementing a zero-tolerance policy for drug use. He said there has been a decrease in drug-related complaints and an increase in drug-related arrests.

“We are cracking down on illegal drug use on the Metro system,” Sotero said. Additional law enforcement officers have been assigned to implement the policy, he said, adding that Metro security staff have also been trained to carry Narcan, or naloxone, which can reverse an overdose.

But he acknowledged there isn’t a quick fix for the recent increases of drug use, as well as violent crime, on Metro trains and buses and at stations.

“It’s going to take time to continue to address the issue,” Sotero said.

More than 20 people this year have died on the county’s public transportation system, most from suspected overdoses, according to an investigation by The Times. That count is already above the total number of deaths from all of 2022.

At least one of those deaths has been ruled a homicide.

According to Metro’s annual report, serious crime in 2022 rose 24% from the year before, and remains on the rise for the start of 2023.

In addition to the drugfree campaign, the agency is working to improve security through an ambassador program begun last summer and is considering forming its own police force.