Accused subway-pusher to appear in court

A man accused of pushing another man in front of a San Francisco Municipal Railway light rail train at the Civic Center station last month will appear in court Friday to answer attempted murder and assault charges, according to the district attorney’s office.

Gerry Chavarria, 56, of San Francisco has been charged with attempted murder, two counts of assault and one count of battery, San Francisco District Attorney’s spokesman Alex Bastian said Thursday. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Chavarria is accused of pushing another man in front of the train during a fight on the Civic Center station platform at about 9 p.m. on March 8, according to police. The victim managed to pull himself off the Muni tracks before he was struck by a train, but suffered a life-threatening head injury. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital for treatment.

Investigators determined Chavarria was a suspect in the case and alerted other law enforcement agencies to his identity. He was spotted by a BART police officer at an Oakland station at about 8 a.m. on March 27. BART police detained Chavarria until San Francisco police arrived and took him into custody, police said.