Updated Aug. 14, 2:30 p.m.
A man died after falling face first on the electrified third rail at the CTA Blue Line terminus, 711 Desplaines, Aug. 7 around 10:45 p.m. Jeffrey Knoll Jr., 28, of Frankfort, died of electrocution, said a spokesman at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Witnesses said Knoll and a female companion had been riding the train earlier, drinking alcohol from open containers. The two exited the train at the Desplaines stop and sat on the platform, continuing to drink and refusing to leave, CTA personnel told police.
CTA summoned Forest Park police to remove the two, but before police could arrive, Knoll fell off the end of the platform onto the third rail and was electrocuted, according to reports.
A CTA electrical crew turned off the electricity to the third rail and police summoned an ambulance, whose crew found no sign of life in the body. Knoll was declared dead at 11:50 p.m.
Police questioned the woman, who was sitting on the platform beside a black purse and a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey. She was transported to the Forest Park Police Station.
This is the second electrocution at the Desplaines stop in a month. On July 21, a 66-year-old Des Plaines man was found dead near the CTA maintenance garage around 6 p.m.
