CLEVELAND — The FBI on Friday arrested a 43-year-old Cleveland man for allegedly attempting to derail trains on CSX Transportation lines used by Amtrak over a three-month period.
Joseph Findley was charged in federal court with terrorist attacks against railroad carriers, Cleveland.com reports. He was ordered by U.S. District Magistrate Judge James Grimes to remain in custody until a hearing next week.
The news site reports that Findley is alleged to have wedged metal into the track or into switches on five occasions between Aug. 14 and last Sunday. Railroad officials told the FBI that the metal was so deeply wedged into location that someone would have had to intentionally install it; an FBI agent wrote in court records, “The objects and their specific placement indicate knowledge of how the tracks and the switch operate, as well as how to disrupt these normal operations.”
Surveillance videos from the railroad and a nearby utility were used to identify Findley; court records say the cameras showed him placing items on the track. The records say Findley admitted to putting some devices on the track when he was arrested on Friday, but denied trying to cause a derailment.
CSX first became aware of the incidents on Aug. 12, during preparations for a Family Days employee passenger special, when a test run hit the device and jumped off the tracks but landed back on them, according to the court records. The railroad postponed the event and changed the train’s route. Similar metal objects were found elsewhere two days later and again on Sept. 17; cameras recorded additional incidents last Saturday and Sunday.
I’m glad to see the Federales are doing something about railroad sabotage. Often they call it “vandalism” and refer it to local law enforcement.
They say Guantanamo is nice around this time of year.