In a dark twist to an incident first reported here Wednesday, a 51-year-old Pittsburg man who suffered minor injuries during an assault at Pleasant Hill BART was found dead two days later – apparently from infection stemming from an injury suffered in the fight.
County Coroner’s deputies identified the victim as Gerald Bisbee, 51.
The victim suffered a “minor” bloody lip and small cut to the back of the knee during an alleged assault by another on the station platform, the 20-year-old suspect sparking an intense chase as he fled into the surrounding neighborhood before eventually being taken into custody.
BART investigators said the victim went to the hospital the next day after complaining of not feeling well. He was released but was found dead in his bed Friday night – an autopsy determining he succumbed to infection from the cut to his knee.
The suspect in this case, 20-year-old Abdul Bey, was arrested shortly after the attack and remains in custody.
Anyone with information on the case should immediately contact the BART Police Department at 510-464-7011.
How awful. Was he healthy when he was injured?
There is a lot that is alarming about this story, but I had no idea you could die from an infection within two days. I thought such things took weeks. Looks like we should all carry Neosporin on our person!
Got our attention, too, Tom. We asked about sepsis or any other potentially fast-acting infections that we know of, along with whether any pre-existing condition may have been involved but all that has yet to be determined, we are told.
That must have been one powerful infection.
Rough week
Did he cut him with something toxic? Wasnt this a stabbing?
It was initially described as a stabbing, yes. It may have looked that way to people watching.
What a week in the 24680. Insane.
It is a shame but I have given up on bart and no longer ride it. There are too many things that can happen and too many sketchy people who go off at the slightest provocation. I personally believe there will never be enough police to adequately cover the system. The good news is that now I work from home and rarely use the car. What happened to those sisters could have happened to me a hundred times.
Think I’ll be staying home from now on. Riding BART is getting to be like playing Russian Roulette.
So strange. What kind of infection??? MRSA?