A mentally ill man charged with BART pushing to death was in and out of the criminal justice system for two decades

The mentally ill homeless man accused of killing a 74-year-old woman at the Powell Street BART station in July remains hospitalized and has not entered a plea. And now the Chronicle has delved into that extensive criminal record.

49-year-old Trevor Belmont, aka Hoak Taing, looks set to become the next case study for the conservatorship cause. And while his criminal history in the Bay Area criminal justice system may not directly point to murder, it certainly looks like the history of someone who was failed by the system and who should have been forced into psychiatric treatment years ago.

Belmont is accused of pushing 74-year-old Corazon Dandan, a longtime employee of the Westin St. Francis Hotel, to her death in front of an oncoming BART train on July 1. Prosecutors say that Belmont – whose alleged act was witnessed by several bystanders and people filmed by security cameras – “secretly” approached Dandan from behind and “just as the train got close enough, he shoved Ms. Dandan with both hands into his with full force.” Away… and threw her into the oncoming train.” Dandan was hit in the head and thrown back onto the platform. She was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

As the Chronicle reports, Belmont’s record includes multiple contacts with BART police and other law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area, and he was even ordered by a judge in 2018 to stay away from all BART trains and stations for a period of three years Accused of lewd conduct – an order he violated almost immediately. He was subsequently arrested in 2018 for “striking his fist at BART patrons on the platform of the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station,” whereupon he was tried and released.

His first known contact with the SFPD occurred in 2007, and his violent past led to several banning orders, including an order that he stay away from all schools in California. He was convicted of assault and battery against a member of the SF State community in 2013 and was subsequently ordered to stay away from that campus.

The next year, a judge issued an expulsion order for St. Monica’s Catholic School in Belmont for reasons unspecified in the filing.

In total, the Chronicle found that Belmont recorded 27 arrests over 17 years.

Belmont’s contacts with BART police will likely be used as evidence in a lawsuit after Dandan’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the agency. The lawsuit alleges that BART failed “to fulfill its duty to protect passengers from harm through its negligent safety practices.”

Belmont makes his first court appearance today, Friday, after spending the last four months in hospital and failing to appear. At the beginning of July he was ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination. He has not yet entered a plea.

Previously: Suspect charged with murder in BART shove killing

Photo: Kace Rodriguez