Video shows two NYPD detectives rescuing woman in angel costume from subway tracks

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Two NYPD detectives risked their lives to rescue a woman who fell onto subway tracks while wearing an angel costume, jumping down to pull her to safety before a train entered the station.

Detectives Brett Devine and Carmelo Stracuzzi were working overtime at Manhattan's Chambers Street station when the 24-year-old woman fell onto the tracks just after 1 am on November 1. The woman was unconscious and dangerously close to the electrified third rail when the officers reached her.

NYPD detectives find unconscious woman on subway tracks

Devine, 36, recalled hearing someone shouting that a woman had fallen onto the tracks at the No 1, 2 and 3 subway station. "We heard someone yelling that somebody had fallen onto the subway tracks," he said.

The detective rushed over and saw the woman lying unconscious on the railbed. Without waiting, he jumped down to reach her.

"She was totally unconscious and I jumped down onto the tracks," Devine recalled. He tried to check whether she would respond by tapping her shoulder, but she remained unconscious. "I kind of gave her a shoulder tap to see if she would wake up, which she didn't," he said.

Devine, who joined the NYPD in 2012 and is a father of four daughters, also admitted that he had not realized how high the platform was until he climbed down. "I couldn't believe how high the platform was because that's the first time I've been down there," he said. "It's very deceiving."

Detectives Brett Devine and Carmelo Stracuzzi rushed against time

The situation became more urgent when the detectives heard an announcement that a train was arriving. However, they were unsure whether it was approaching the track where the woman was lying or the express track on the opposite side.

Stracuzzi, 42, recalled seeing lights at the end of the tunnel and feared that a train could be approaching them.

"I remember seeing lights at the end of the tunnel," he said.

The detective, who joined the department in 2011, knew they had to act quickly. "I'm like, 'Oh boy . . . we gotta kind of move a little quickly here,'" he recalled. "You kind of get tunnel vision."

The two officers worked together to lift the unconscious woman off the tracks. Devine went under her arms while Stracuzzi grabbed her legs. "At that point, I went under the arms and Detective Stracuzzi grabbed the legs and we hoisted her onto the subway platform," Devine said.

Once the woman was safely on the platform, the detectives still had to climb out of the four-foot-deep tracks themselves. Another officer standing on the platform helped pull them up.

NYPD officers rush woman to hospital after subway rescue

Around two minutes after the detectives got the woman out, a train entered the station. Fortunately, it was travelling on the express track across the platform.

"We're not sure if it was rerouted or not," Stracuzzi said.

A good Samaritan helped the officers take the woman up the station's stairs. Since 911 services were busy following Halloween festivities, the detectives decided to take her to a hospital in their own vehicle.

The woman's identity has not been released, and police described her fall as accidental. As per Stracuzzi, who has two daughters aged 4 and 7, the rescue also had a personal side. He said his older daughter would be excited to see footage of him helping save a woman dressed as an angel.

"I'm just thankful we were there to help her," he said. "Who knows what could have happened if we weren't there?"

The Detectives' Endowment Association also praised the officers for their actions.

"Detectives Stracuzzi and Devine's heroic actions say everything about the men and women who carry the gold shield," DEA President Scott Munro said. "They prove exactly why they're called the greatest detectives in the world and this union is proud to represent them."

A police source also reflected on the unusual sight of the woman's angel wings lying on the subway tracks during the rescue.

"You see those wings on the track from the woman's costume and can't help wondering if an angel was looking out for all of them," the source said.