BART victim revealed as artist Paul Addis

For many of you that went out on the town Saturday night for a little pre-Halloween shenanigans — or pre-World Series Championship shenanigans, whichever you prefer — you know that BART was running dramatically behind schedule because someone had fallen in front of a westbound train at Embarcadero station.

BART kept the information regarding the victim quiet until Monday morning, when it was revealed that playwright and stage performer Paul Addis took his life by getting in the way of the Daly City-bound train.

BART spokesperson Jim Allison told the Chronicle that witnesses saw the 40-year-old jump in front of the train around 7:48 p.m. The suicide shut down the entire Embarcadero station and caused extreme delays for the rest of Saturday night.

Trains in both directions ran on the opposite track for the better part of the night without stopping at the station, continuing through to Montgomery Street station as the first San Francisco stop from the East Bay.

Addis made headlines in 2007 when he set The Man — at Burning Man — on fire before it was scheduled to burn. He served a two-year sentence in Nevada prison before returning to San Francisco.

In addition, Addis was accused of an attempt at burning down Grace Cathedral in 2007 — which he later denied.

In an extensive interview with the San Francisco Bay Guardian after his release from prison, Addis said he had become frustrated with Burning Man after years of committed support:

“There are some people who go to Burning Man who have extraordinary ideas and they are extraordinary people. They embody the type of concern and substantial action that I found so wonderfully possible in those early years. And to those people, thank you for what you do. But they are a minority.”

Addis’ one-man show Dystopian Veneer debuted after his release and channeled his outrage at how “commercial” The City had become.