A screenshot from the video displaying the practice crash. A 17-year-old in Nebraska has been charged with two felony counts of prison mischief after allegedly inflicting a practice crash and filming it. {The teenager} appeared in Lancaster County Juvenile Court docket on Wednesday however could also be transferred to an grownup court docket after prosecutors filed a movement. The incident occurred within the small metropolis of Bennet on April 21 when a locomotive crashed into an empty coal automobile after it had gotten onto the unsuitable line due to a misaligned swap. No one was damage however the collision price $350,000 in harm. The conductor of the BNSF Railway practice — which was carrying coal and touring east — tried to make an emergency cease however ran out of time earlier than the collision. An investigator for the BNSF Railway police, Thomas McCaslin, says within the affidavit that two locomotives and 5 rail vehicles derailed however remained upright. Footage of the accident was posted to a YouTube channel which prosecutors imagine is related to {the teenager}. The title of the video reads: “Loaded BNSF Arbor COLLIDES and DERAILS in Bennet, NE! MOST INSANE VIDEO I’VE EVER TAKEN!”
“The aftermath of the collision raises the questions of how such a routine journey can flip perilous and what classes could be gleaned from such a brush with catastrophe,” the narrator says. The accused is alleged to be a practice fanatic, or “railfan”, and reported the incident to authorities, in keeping with court docket paperwork. When investigators arrived on the scene, {the teenager} requested what had brought on the crash. After he was informed it was undetermined, he replied that “clearly a swap was flipped the unsuitable means.” He then confirmed the video he filmed to the practice investigators and informed them he was a practice fanatic, which was recorded by the investigator’s physique cam. The investigator says that {the teenager} knew the place the switches had been and the way they labored. The authorities later found {that a} tripod had been arrange subsequent to the accident website simply 4 minutes earlier than the crash. “Within the days following the derailment, a video of the derailment was posted to YouTube account ZUnit06, which is believed to be related to [the teen],” an investigator says within the doc. “This account options quite a few movies of trains filmed in Bennet, NE, and different areas in Lancaster County, NE.”
