Aug 6, 2009 6:07 am US/Eastern
LIRR Engineer Accused Of Allowing 24-Mile Joyride
Nassau County DA: Double-Decker Train With Hundreds Aboard Driven By 47-Year-Old Passenger Over 7 Car Crossings
MINEOLA (CBS) ―
A joyride on the Long Island Rail Road has led to a one-way trip to court.
Criminal charges have been filed against an engineer and the passenger he allegedly allowed to drive a crowded train.
The Long Island Rail Road's 6:45 a.m. rush hour double-decker out of Port Jefferson on July 2 was filled with 400 commuters. But soon, slipping inside the conductor's cabin, trading places with the engineer, it's alleged, was a passenger: unlicensed, untrained, unqualified.
William Kutsch, 47, is a court reporter, but took over the controls of the massive 500-ton diesel-powered train.
"The engineer allowed the passenger to drive the train? Oh no," passenger Joyce Simmons said. "That's a no-no."
"That's just scary," Lisa Alvarez added. "What kind of world are we living in?"
The licensed engineer with 16 years experience, 40-year-old Ronald Cabrera is now suspended and charged by Nassau County's district attorney with reckless endangerment and official misconduct. He's accused of allowing the passenger to operate the train – nonstop -- for 24 miles, from Hicksville to Hunter's Point.
Investigators said the train passed over seven car crossings, one pedestrian crossing, and 24 home signals before reaching its destination and added entire neighborhoods along the route were at risk during the reckless act.
"While no one was hurt in this incident, make no mistake: the potential for danger in this situation was incredibly high," Nassau DA Kathleen Rice said. "A collision with another train or a derailment, under these circumstances, would have been absolutely catastrophic."
The train has no autopilot. The operator must be pressing the pedal to move the train at speeds up to 80 miles per hour.
Barbara and Bob Levin, regular riders on that train, wondered about a climate of corruption within the LIRR.
"Reckless, with other people's lives," Barbara Levin said.
But the MTA's chief of detectives called this an aberration. The MTA inspector general thanked passengers for alerting authorities.
Both the engineer and the passenger were released after pleading not guilty. Their attorneys said the men, both from Suffolk County, were regulars aboard that train, and "casual" friends. They also denied the incident ever took place.
Did money exchange hands? Was this a favor? Fun? A joyride? Investigators wouldn't say, but LIRR management is happy passengers blew the whistle.
The LIRR is the busiest commuter railroad in the U.S., servicing about 81 million passengers each year.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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