No interaction before man, 73, shoved to death on TTC subway: Cops Article content Yosuke Hayahara was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It cost him his life. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or No interaction before man, 73, shoved to death on TTC subway: Cops Back to video Hayahara, 73, has been identified as the man pushed onto the subway track at Bloor Station Monday morning and hit by an oncoming train. He died in hospital. The motive in this bizarre tragedy remains a mystery. John Reszetnik, 57, faces first-degree murder charges, but police say he and Hayahara had no apparent conversation, argument or interaction of any kind before Hayahara was shoved onto the track. This strange and apparently random act of violence has already prompted speculation about the accused’s mental health. He is known to police; as reported by Kevin Connor, court documents show in 1995 he was charged with assault and in 2016 he was charged with theft, but charges were withdrawn in both cases. Reszetnik made his first appearance at College Park courts Tuesday to face the first degree murder charge.<doc-sep>The man who died after being pushed off the platform at Bloor-Yonge station on Monday has been identified as Yosuke Hayahara, a 73-year-old Toronto resident, Toronto police said in a news release Tuesday evening. Toronto homicide Det. Rob North said Monday that Hayahara was on the eastbound platform about 10:15 a.m. when he was pushed onto the tracks as the train entered the station. Police said Hayahara was injured on the tracks and taken to hospital, where he later died. The suspect accused of pushing Hayahara to his death appeared briefly in court Tuesday. John Reszetnik, 57, was charged with one count of first-degree murder in Monday morning’s incident at Bloor-Yonge station. Police called the incident “a completely unprovoked attack.” READ MORE: Man killed after he was pushed off platform at Yonge/Bloor station Keiko Hayahara, Yosuke’s ex-wife, told the Star she was notified by police Tuesday. She said she hadn’t spoken with him in 25 years, despite the pair having a daughter. Keiko said Yosuke “was a good man.” “I’m just crying for my daughter, because my daughter was very close to him,” she said. “It’s very, very shocking. I just feel like it’s senseless, whoever did this. I just don’t understand why.” Keiko said her daughter was in a “state of shock.” “There’s absolutely no way to speak to her today,” she said. “I just rushed to her side, held her, she kept crying.” There is no apparent motive for the incident, North said outside a Toronto court after a brief hearing where Reszetnik’s case was put over to next month. “The incident took place in a very quick fashion and ended very quickly,” North told reporters. Officers have spoken to four or five witnesses but believe there were about 25 more on the station platform at the time — seven or eight of whom would have directly witnessed the victim’s fall, North added. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... “I understand it’s a very traumatic incident they may have witnessed, however we would like them to come forward so we can interview them and sort of get a narrative from them about what transpired,” he said. Police are asking witnesses to call investigators at 416-808-7400. Reszetnik appeared in College Park court Tuesday morning in a hooded, white, police-issue jumpsuit. His case was put over to July 17. He did not speak except to tell his lawyer he was comfortable with the date of his next appearance and to mumble something under his breath as he was led away at the end of proceedings. Reszetnik has had multiple minor interactions with police in the past, according to North, who would not comment on whether the man had ever been charged before. Police have not confirmed, or ruled out the possibility, that mental health issues may have contributed to the incident but will continue to delve into Reszetnik’s personal history, North said. The accused was arrested in the area about 20 minutes after the incident. The last fatal subway pushing incident was in 1997. Charlene Minkowski, a 23-year-old law clerk, was waiting for a train at Dundas subway station when she was pushed by Herbert Cheong, a man with a history of mental illness. Cheong was convicted of second-degree murder after court heard he developed a plan to kill someone. A Crown attorney at the time called it “a form of urban terrorism ... totally random.” In 2009, three boys were pushed into the path of a train at Dufferin station. Two of the boys fell to the tracks while the third maintained his balance. Of the boys who fell, one suffered minor injuries and had two toes amputated and the other was not injured. The man who pushed them, Adenir De Oliveira, was found not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder. Police are urging witnesses having difficulty with they saw to call Victim Services Toronto’s crisis line at 416-808-7066. The line is monitored 24 hours a day. Correction - June 19, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said the two boys who fell into the tracks after being pushed in 2009 suffered minor injuries. In fact, one suffered minor injuries and had two toes amputated while the other was not injured.<doc-sep>TORONTO — Toronto Police have charged a 57-year-old man with first-degree murder for allegedly pushing a transit rider in front of a subway at the Yonge-Bloor station. Toronto Police Det. Rob North said the unidentified victim was an “Asian man who is in his 50s or 60s” with “white hair and white eyebrows.” The accused, John Reszetnik, was to appear in College Park court Tuesday at 10 a.m. “We believe at this time based on our information that the male (victim) was pushed,” said North. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Alleged subway pusher charged with murder Back to video North urged “seven or eight witnesses” investigators can see on TTC security cameras to come forward and provide statements to police. He said video shows some witnessed the alleged murder and may have heard “utterances.” At this point, police believe the accused and victim did not know each other and that they had no previous contact. North alleged that it appears the victim was about to get on the eastbound train when he was “sort of pushed and fell under the train.” The accused, who is believed to have an address in Scarborough, went a “short distance from the scene and then walked back to the scene.”<doc-sep>
Police have identified the man who was killed after being pushed onto the subway tracks in Toronto Monday as 73-year-old Yosuke Hayahara. Yosuke Hayahara, 73, was killed after being pushed onto the subway tracks in 2018. (Toronto Police Service) The development comes the same day that the man charged with first-degree murder in the death appeared in court. John Reszetnik, 57, of Toronto, has been remanded into custody after appearing in a Toronto courtroom Tuesday morning. He is accused of pushing another man onto the tracks at Bloor station, into the path of an eastbound train on Line 2, on Monday morning. Reszetnik is known to police. He had a "very minor interaction" with police in 2015, Det. Rob North told reporters outside court on Tuesday. Police believe the incident was a "completely unprovoked attack," he said. Toronto police were called to Bloor station at 10:15 a.m. on Monday about the incident. When officers arrived, they found a man underneath a subway train suffering from medical distress. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. North told reporters that police would like to speak to seven or eight witnesses who would have seen the victim being pushed. He said police understand they may have seen a "traumatic incident" but they can help investigators piece together what happened. North said police do not believe there was any altercation between the accused and the victim before the victim was pushed. "The incident took place in a very quick fashion and ended very quickly," he said. According to North, there was a "brief interaction" between Reszetnik and officers on the street before he was arrested around 20 minutes after the initial 911 call. He was taken to 53 Division. North declined to say if police believe the accused is suffering from mental health issues or was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident. "We will follow the evidence wherever it may lead us," he said.