Man shot in altercation with South Shore transit officer charged with felony
The man who was shot in an altercation with a transit police officer on a South Shore Line train last week is being held on $50,000 bail. The Chicago Tribune reports Alfredo Alanis, 33, of Westmont, Ill., was charged with a felony count of aggravated battery to a police officer after the March 4 incident, which began onboard a train in Hammond, Ind., and ended with the shooting at the Hegewisch station in south Chicago [see “Digest: Railway Interchange postponed to 2023,” Trains News Wire, March 5, 2021]. Prosecutors said Alanis, who remains hospitalized with a stomach wound and did not appear at a Saturday hearing, became angry when asked to buy a ticket, threatened a train employee, and punched, clawed at the face and eyes, and attempted to choke the officer when asked to leave the train, leading the officer to grab his gun and fire one shot.
Worker killed in accident during cleanup of NS derailment
A worker who was part of the cleanup effort of a Norfolk Southern derailment in Front Royal, Va., has died as a result of an accident at the cleanup site. The Northern Virginia Dailey reports Willie Ezra Phillips, 36, of Lesage, W.Va., suffered fatal injuries in an accident that was reported about 3 a.m. at the site of the 15-car derailment that occurred Thursday afternoon. Front Royal police are investigating. No additional details were released.
Canadian Supreme Court says men convicted in rail terrorism plot received fair trial
Two men convicted of a terrorism plot to derail a VIA Rail Canada train traveling between the U.S. and Canada received a fair trial, even though the judge made an error in assembling the jury, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled. The court on Friday explained its reasoning for a ruling last October that Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier would not receive new a new trial for their 2015 conviction of terror-related charges. The conviction involved a 2013 plan to derail the Maple Leaf, the New York-Toronto train jointly operated by VIA Rail Canada and Amtrak, at a bridge in Jordan Station, Ontario, according to documents obtained by the National Post in 2014.
