As a subway train left the L'Enfant Plaza station in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, a man on board realized he had just missed his stop.
Instead of doing what most of us would do — ride to the next stop and get on the next train going in the opposite direction — he decided to pull the emergency release.
Along with that version events, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority released a video that shows the man pry the doors open and then, with his child in tow, run away from the train.
The man's decision and an earlier malfunction resulted in a hellish commute for riders:
Next GL still 5 mins out. @wmata @unsuckdcmetro pic.twitter.com/XCr304zKoV
— SWDCJenn (@swdcjenn) July 21, 2015
"The man is now being sought by Metro Transit Police," NBC Washington reports.
The sentiment on all of this was captured on Twitter:
Arguably the most absurd, notcool, ridiculous thing I've read—Man Misses Metro Stop, Hits Emergency Switch To Get Off http://t.co/g78DFNRUGX
— Andra Searles (@andrasearles) July 23, 2015
Update at 1 p.m. ET. on July 24; A Good Reason?
The Washington Post talked to a witness on the train that says the man seen in the video may have very well had a good reason to pull the emergency release.
The paper reports:
"[Jackie] Queen says that before he boarded the train, he had two children with him — and the younger child, a boy who looked about five years old, didn't make it onto the train.
"The train doors closed behind the man and the little girl, leaving the little boy alone on the platform, screaming and banging on the door. The man started banging too, from the inside.
"'I saw the father was hysterical,' Queen said. 'Everyone was running to the emergency stop to stop the train.... There was probably seven or eight people pulling the emergency stop. Everybody was trying to get him off.'"
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