GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Col. Three transients were arrested Saturday night after allegedly tampering with a locomotive's air-break system, stopping a freight train in Glenwood Canyon, the Post Independent reports.
According to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office, Bradley C. Sanders, 29, David Michael Delvisco, 25, and Mary Ellen Carter, 31, were charged with endangering public transportation, a class 3 felony, in Garfield County District Court Monday afternoon.
If found guilty, the three face a possible penalty of between four and 12 years in prison and between $3,000 and $750,000 in fines, for the felony charge alone.
The three were also each charged with misdemeanor offenses of criminal trespassing and criminal tampering.
Sanders received another felony charge of criminal impersonation, because he failed to accurately identify himself to authorities at first.
According to an arrest affidavit, Garfield County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a call from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway that one of its freight trains near the Bair Ranch Rest Area was stopped and that three subjects had locked themselves in one of the engine compartments at the rear of the train.
The report read that the three were blowing the train's horn, and that they had activated the train's emergency brake system, which brought the train to a halt.
When deputies arrived on the scene, they were notified by the train's conductor, T.R. Jones, and engineer James Murdock that the three were locked in the engine.
A deputy stated in the report that he saw Delvisco through the window sitting in the train's pilot chair.
The subject immediately ducked for cover and dropped to the floor, the affidavit stated.
With the help of Murdock, deputies were able to gain access to the locked compartment, where deputies arrested the three. The report stated that Sanders was intoxicated and unresponsive.
The train was transporting hazardous materials, according to the report, and Jones told authorities that the actions of stopping the train could have caused the train to derail. However, a spokesman for the railway company, Steven Forsberg, said that Murdock and Jones always had control of the locomotive and that the three in the rear engine would not have been able to gain control.
The transients would not have had control of the train's ability to move forward, Forsberg said.
Tampering with the air brake system anywhere else in the train can trigger an automatic emergency braking, which is what apparently happened, Forsberg added.
The seriousness of the crime, however, caused 9th Judicial District Deputy District Attorney Tony Hershey to ask Chief Magistrate Ruben Hernandez, Monday, to increase the bond amount for all three suspects.
Carter, of Colorado Springs, and Delvisco, of Alabama, are being held at the Garfield County Jail in lieu of a $20,000 bond, while Sanders received a $22,000 bond.
According to Hershey, all three had previous failures to appear for cases in other courts.
Forsberg was unsure at which location the three suspects allegedly accessed the train, which was traveling eastbound from Provo, Utah, to Amarillo, Texas, or for how long they had been riding the train. He mentioned that the engine had to be decontaminated as a result of lice and urine in the compartment.
(This item appeared in the Post Independent Aug. 25, 2009.)
Ummm, if I am reading this right, it sounds like the 3 rocket scientists were on the DP. If that's the case, why weren't the doors locked on the power before these brainchildren got on board?
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Some people say I have a bad attitude. Those people are stupid.
Ummm, if I am reading this right, it sounds like the 3 rocket scientists were on the DP. If that's the case, why weren't the doors locked on the power before these brainchildren got on board?
We never lock the doors on the DP or the head end. They don't trust us with tu many keys...
Ummm, if I am reading this right, it sounds like the 3 rocket scientists were on the DP. If that's the case, why weren't the doors locked on the power before these brainchildren got on board?
We never lock the doors on the DP or the head end. They don't trust us with tu many keys...
That's good to know. Here at LINTCO, we never lock the head end but the DP is locked up tight. Then, so as not to draw attention to the fact that the DP might not be occupied, we leave ALL the fucking lights on. Numberboard lights (on every unit), cab lights, head lights, class lights (if equipped). Fools'em every time.
__________________
Some people say I have a bad attitude. Those people are stupid.
Ummm, if I am reading this right, it sounds like the 3 rocket scientists were on the DP. If that's the case, why weren't the doors locked on the power before these brainchildren got on board?
We never lock the doors on the DP or the head end. They don't trust us with tu many keys...
That's good to know. Here at LINTCO, we never lock the head end but the DP is locked up tight. Then, so as not to draw attention to the fact that the DP might not be occupied, we leave ALL the fucking lights on. Numberboard lights (on every unit), cab lights, head lights, class lights (if equipped). Fools'em every time.
