Queens man charged for shoving stranger into path of subway train: ‘He took my husband’s life over a phone,’ victim’s wife wails

A Queens man was charged with manslaughter Tuesday for shoving a stranger into the path of an oncoming subway train during a senseless argument over a dropped cell phone, police said.

“I want justice for my husband,” cried the victim’s wife. “He took my husband’s life over a phone.”

Carlos Garcia is accused of pushing Heriberto Quintana off the F train platform at the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Ave. station in Jackson Heights around 4:45 p.m. Monday.

Quintana, 48, was on his way to meet his wife Hilda Rojas and take her for dialysis treatment at the time, his devastated family told the Daily News.

“He was my helper, my provider,” Rojas, 46, said as she broke down into tears. “And now I am alone.”

Surveillance video viewed by The News shows Garcia at the platform’s yellow line as the train is pulling into the station.

Quintana, wearing a red baseball cap, accidentally bumped into the suspect and Garcia dropped his phone onto the tracks, sparking an argument.

“Aren’t you going to get my phone?” Garcia barked at Quintana, according to police sources.

The video then shows the two men rolling around on the packed platform and tussling until Quintana fell onto the tracks and was struck by an oncoming train.

Two subway cars rolled over the victim before the motorman was able to stop the train, police said. Firefighters and EMTs performed CPR on Quintana, but he couldn’t be saved.

Cops in the station nabbed Garcia after horrified witnesses pointed him out as the man Quintana had been fighting with. He was questioned overnight before being hit with manslaughter charges Tuesday.

Quintana had been commuting back home from work to the Jamaica Hills, Queens, house where he lived with his wife and two of their sons.

Quinatana’s wife has had kidney disease for three years. He took her to get dialysis treatments three times a week, she said.

“He was in a rush because he had to take me to dialysis,” Rojas said.

When he never showed up, she got into a cab and went to her appointment.

“I was calling and calling, but no one picked up,” Rojas recounted.

Finally, she received a call that her husband was dead.

Rojas previously cleaned houses for a living but has been unable to work since her diagnosis.

“He was a good man,” she said. “He was a responsible man. He was a good father.”

Quintana, a Mexico native who worked in construction, had sons ages 14, 26 and 30 with Rojas, originally of Guatemala.

“He was a good father,” said Demsi Quintana, 14. “He was there for me and my family. He bumped [Garcia] by accident. It’s crazy. He killed him over a damn cell phone.”

With Harry Parker