Water Cooler

LIRR Conductor Risks Life To Prevent Alleged Rape

FREEPORT, N.Y. (CBS) ― Attack on the tracks! A Long Island Railroad conductor risked his life and rushed onto the electrified tracks to stop a man from raping a woman. The alleged rapist is now under arrest.

"It was shocking, scary, frightening and something that's just unacceptable."

Those are the words of Eugene Chino, an assistant conductor on the events that unfolded at the Freeport station, when his train from Babylon pulled in at 4:11 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

Several customers on the platform told Chino they had heard what sounded like a child screaming coming from the east end of the station.

He went running down the platform, and could hear a woman screaming. But he couldn't see who it was or where it was coming from. He went down a ladder to the tracks, and behind a wall he found a man apparently sexually assaulting a young woman.

"He didn't say anything. He didn't even look at me. It was like he was in a state of shock," said Chino.

MTA police officers were right behind the conductor, arresting the suspect without an incident. Police said the victim was a train passenger, but it's not clear how the man got her down to the tracks.

"I just said to her, it's over, relax, it's over, and then the officers were with her," said Chino.

"We consoled her, she hugged me. She wouldn't let me go," said MTA police officer Kevin Smith.

Officials said along with the MTA police officers and the train crew, the passengers who followed the "see something, say something" campaign were able to stop the attack.

The victim is now at the Nassau University Medical Center, and 48-year-old David Thornton has been charged with rape. He has pleaded not guilty and will be back in court on Monday.

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