Police: Man Arrested After Crawling Under Metra Train
(CBS) -- Police in north suburban Wilmette arrested a man who crawled under a Metra train Friday to try to board it.
Union Pacific R.R. spokesman Mark Davis said the train, inbound from Kenosha, had rolled to a stop about 3:55 p.m. when the man emerged from beneath the train and was spotted by the train's conductor.
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Conductors have the option of telling such riders that they cannot board. Most would have accepted the 25-minute wait the man faced, but Davis and Metra spokesperson Meg Thomas Reile said this rider became belligerent, and that angry words escalated to a physical confrontation.
"When he escalated he left the conductor no choice but to contact the police immediately," Reile said.
Other crew members came to the conductor's assistance and held the man down till police arrived. Davis said that the unidentified man was cited for trespassing and released.
No one was injured, and Reile said the delay to the train was minor, but Davis said the safety issue, in the wake of Train Safety Week in Illinois, is one train crews cannot ignore.
"That's a very, very unsafe act," Davis said.
