Witness Tells Newsday About Passenger Driving LIRR Train

Yesterday, the MTA police revealed that, based on a witness's account, a Long Island Rail Road passenger was allegedly allowed to drive the 6:45 a.m. westbound train from Port Jefferson between Hicksville and Hunters Point Avenue. The engineer on duty, Ronald Cabrera, was suspended and that a criminal investigation was opened. Now the witness tells Newsday what he saw, "[The passenger] knocked on the engineer's door and the engineer let him in." When the passenger emerged from the engineer's cab, he asked another ride, "How'd I do?"

The witness, who is anonymous, explained why he called the police, "I thought about it... and I just said, 'You know what? If something happened and there was some kind of accident and the railroad figured out that the engineer was away from the controls and I knew it ... ' He was putting my life at risk and everyone else's on this train." He added that the passenger was a regular on the train who was friendly with LIRR staff, who let him into the engineer's cab other times. What caught his attention what that the train's horn, which usually sounds like short bursts, went "long, loud and a little wild"—"It was like a little kid was driving."

Near Hicksville, the cab's door was opened and the witness observed a stunning sight: The engineer was standing "in the middle of the compartment, away from the controls" and the passenger was out of view, presumably behind the controls. The witness said he got a peek into the cab at other times during the trip, and the engineer and passenger were in those same positions.

Other passengers don't recall seeing another rider in the engineer's cab, but Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said there could have been "a mass casualty situation," adding, "If these allegations are proven true, at the very least you are talking about the reckless endangerment of thousands of passengers and individuals who live alongside the high-speed track." Her office is also investigating the allegations.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on July 18, 2009 5:25 PM

Comments [rss]

Felix Hoenikker

Great pic, Jen.

Spirit of 76

Yeah, why not allow people to have "fun"? Why should people need drivers licenses for cars? The guy who accidentally shot that woman with an arrow some months back was just having "fun." The guy who crashed the train in California was just having fun texting on his cell. The kids who threw that rock onto the cab contain a woman and her kids were just having fun.

There definitely sound like there are kids around here. Irresponsible kids who don't give a damn about other people's safety.

ckl

Maybe they should allow this on the F so that the trains, say, go faster than five miles an hour and it doesn't take me a goddamn hour to get into Manhattan during fucking rush hour.

Also, decriminalize fun.

dadoc

Reminds me of the late 70's when one of the neighborhood dads let me drive the R train thru the tunnel into Brooklyn at about 2AM. Great experience. Thanks, Mr S.!

(I assume 30+ years is way past any statute of limitations). The Stillwell yards & old Jersey Erie Lackawana yards were great too. Thanks Mr H. & Mr. H.!

T'was fun growing up when the world didn't consist of administrators & liability lawyers.

tmz is evil

T'was fun growing up when the world didn't consist of administrators & liability lawyers.

I'm sure the passengers of Aeroflot Flight 593 wlould agree with you about the annoying presence of administrators & liability lawyers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_593

/sarcasm

dadoc

Hey, I was the teenager back then, not the adult. Grew up in the days of no seatbelts, lead paint, fireworks, unfiltered Camels, Rheingold and black & white TV. Your bicycle didn't come with a helmet & 23 warning labels, it came with a bell. It's amazing any of us survived to adulthood. Was it wrong, yeah! Was it fun, hell yeah! Strange how craziest of kids can grow up into responsible adults. Was my recounting advocating such things? No way. Just brought back a memory from years ago. This from a guy who wears seatbelts for a five minute cab ride & won't talk on a cell while crossing the street. Ah, youth!

FinalShaft

Agreed... sounds like a little kid who was upset that he didn't get a chance to play with the big toy.

I'm always amazed how much 'adults' act like big kids. I guess some things never change... the cool kids got to play with the toys while the nerds cried to their mommy.

tmz is evil

Agreed... sounds like a little kid who was upset that he didn't get a chance to play with the big toy.

You're a Goddamned moron, you know that?

#1-- This was not a "big toy." This was a COMMUTER TRAIN. Did you forget that while the "cool kid" was playing with a "toy", he was also putting the lives of hundreds of people in his hands-- or what?

#2-- If people who've been TRAINED to do this job have accidentally crashed trains and caused mass casualties, what the hell makes you think it's okay to let some boob who has absolutely no training or expertise to drive one? How RETARDED are you?

Maybe about as RETARDED as the Russian pilot who got 75 people killed when he thought it would be cool if his 2 kids got to "fly" the plane for awhile:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_593