Suspect dies in custody after allegedly pushing teen onto Red Line train tracks in DTLA

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A man suspected of pushing a teenager onto the Red Line train tracks has died after being taken into custody in downtown Los Angeles, police said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department received a wireless 911 call to the Red Line station platform near 5th and Hill streets around 9:15 a.m. The caller stated there was a young man on the platform, and there was word of an assailant, who was nowhere to be seen when firefighters arrived.

Police said the suspect, a man in his 20s who appears to be a transient, pushed the 14-year-old onto the train tracks then fled. Both the suspect and victim ended up on the tracks following the push, but the teen was able to scramble up before an oncoming train arrived less than a minute afterward.

Fire officials said the victim suffered some contusions and cuts but did not want to be transported.

The attacker fled about five blocks up 5th Street at Flower Street, where there is a construction site. Witnesses said he approached a hardhat worker from behind and punched him on the head with his fist.

"The construction worker turns around, and there's a fight that begins between the construction worker and the suspect. Coworkers come to aid their construction worker. They hold them down, police respond because they're called. When police respond, they take the suspect into custody," said Meghan Aguilar of the LAPD.

A witness to the fight described the suspect as "hostile" during the arrest.

Within moments, there was a medical emergency, and the suspect died. LAPD officials said he had been handcuffed, but there no Taser or less-than-lethal force was used.

The suspect was transported to an area hospital and pronounced dead. It was not clear how he died.

The identities of the victim and suspect were not immediately available.