A 17-year-old boy in the US has been accused of intentionally causing a train derailment, recording it and posting it to YouTube. According to court documents, the Nebraska boy derailed a train, recorded it and shared the footage on YouTube, Metro reported.
The incident occurred in April of this year, when the boy allegedly operated a railroad switch, causing two locomotives and five fully loaded coal train cars to derail and collide with empty coal cars. The boy then reported the derailment to authorities, and when investigators arrived he asked them what caused the accident. The boy told investigators he was a train enthusiast and showed them a video he had taken of the derailment.
When authorities said they didn’t know what caused the derailment, the boy said, “Obviously a switch got pushed the wrong way.”
BNSF Railroad investigators found that the padlock that should have been attached to the switch was missing, indicating tampering. Three days later, BNSF investigators obtained surveillance video that showed a 1996 Buick Park Avenue parked nearby and the same teen walking toward the switch at the south end of the tracks. The boy was then recorded returning to the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
According to investigators, a video of the derailment was posted to a YouTube account believed to be linked to the boy. Authorities also found a tripod set up near the scene just four minutes before the train derailed. The derailment caused $350,000 in damages to BNSF Railway and Omaha Public Power, according to NBC News.
The 17-year-old was arraigned in Lancaster County Juvenile Court on Wednesday, but prosecutors have asked that the case be moved to adult court. The juvenile is charged with two felony counts of criminal damage to property in connection with the train derailment.
“My office will file a motion to transfer the case to adult court and it will be up to the juvenile court judge to transfer the case or keep it in juvenile court,” Lancaster County Attorney Patrick Condon told McClatchy News.