A 25-year-old man was hailed as a hero for saving a stranger’s life before being crushed to death in an elevator carrying New Year’s Eve revelers.
Cops said Stephen Hewett-Brown, of the Bronx, was in an elevator at 131 Broome Street with two other people when the elevator got stuck near the third floor minutes before midnight on Thursday. The other two occupants were able to get out of the elevator, but Hewett-Brown got stuck between the elevator car and shaft, according to police.
Officers responded to the scene, where they found Hewett-Brown unresponsive with severe body trauma. He was taken to New York Downtown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The medical examiner will determine an official cause of death.
Erude Sanchez, 43, told The New York Times that she was with her 10-year-old nephew when Hewett-Brown pushed her to safety. As people tried to help get Hewett-Brown out of the elevator, Sanchez said she began “crying a little.”
Witness Manuel Coronado, 23, told the New York Daily News that Hewett-Brown pushed Sanchez out of the elevator as it began to fall.
“He said ‘Happy New Year’ and pushed her out,” Coronado said.
Coronado also told the Daily News that he tried to help free Hewett-Brown.
WABC’s Kala Rama reported that there are three active violations on the building’s elevators from the New York City Department of Buildings. The violations were issued back in May 2014, Rama reported.
