FOLEY, Minn. — A 41-year-old man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for climbing aboard a BNSF Railway train last year and attacking the engineer with a knife.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports Samuel D. Hohman of Sauk Rapids, Minn., was sentenced Wednesday in Benton County District Court after pleading guilty in February to one felony count of second-degree assault in a plea deal. He was also ordered to pay BNSF $13,319 in restitution.
On Sept. 20, 2022, Sauk Rapids police found the train’s engineer near the railroad tracks with blood on his face and hands after responding to a report of a stabbing. According to court documents, the engineer said a man had jumped on the train, wrapped his arms around the engineer’s neck, and told him to speed up. The man pulled a knife out of his bag and stabbed the engineer in the forehead; the engineer then bit the man in the hand and was able to jump off the train.
The train was found stopped in the adjacent community of Sartell. Police found Hohman nearby and a knife in the area, and found wires on the train had been cut.
I agree with Steven. Only 18 months??? And I agree with Chris that it’s probable the conductor was on the ground. Sounds like the train was not moving at a high rate of speed. Probably stopped when the engineer did not respond the the alertor.
18 months for this? Should have been charged with attempted murder. Maybe 10-15 years would be more appropriate.
WHAT THE BLEEP! WHY wasn’t the cab door locked? Where was the conductor?Why was this nut not locked up in an insane asylum?
It’s not routine for crews to lock the cab door on moving locomotives. I suspect the conductor may have been on the ground, possibly switching. And for your third question, there are a lot of “nuts” as you say, out in the world today that need treatment. And there aren’t enough mental hospitals to house and treat them. A problem that began in the eighties when funding was cut for mental institutions.
“Chris”, “I suspect the conductor may have been on the ground, possibly switching.” Agreed, or and/or excessively slow speed at a grade crossing, causing road-rage. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t defend the perp’s actions, but if so, sometimes these situations can be avoided by briefly interrupting a move and cutting the cars, if applicable, to let some traffic go by. I’ve seen some examples of that over my many RR years.