The things smokers will do for a puff after a night on the town! Early Sunday morning MTA police arrested two LIRR passengers after one was allegedly smoking on the train and the other punched a conductor who tried to make the smoking stop. Thinking you can still smoke on LIRR platforms, we can get—the ban on that is only months old—but who really expects to light up on an actual train anymore?
As first reported in Newsday, Justin Merk, 20, and Lisa A. Moore, 21, both of Babylon, Long Island, were on the train from Penn Station back home Sunday morning when things got hot around 12:30 a.m. near the Freeport station. According to the MTA, Merk lit up and then broke the glass to an emergency door release in an effort to leave the train. When a conductor tried to stop Merk, the man spat on him and his friend Moore allegedly punched him in the face.
Merk was charged with criminal tampering and disorderly conduct, Moore was charged with second-degree assault, and the conductor was treated for a sprained thumb at the Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, an MTA spokesperson tells us. Wonder if, a day later, Merk and Moore think those puffs of precious, precious tobacco were worth it?
