A teenager has been charged in connection with a train derailment that he recorded and allegedly caused, the video now likely to become one of the key pieces of evidence against him.
The unnamed teen was charged Wednesday in Lancaster County, Nebraska, with two felony counts of criminal mischief totaling over $5,000.
The 17-year-old, described as a train enthusiast by KOLN-TV, was on-site and had his camera recording in April as two locomotives and five fully-laden cars collided with an empty rail car near the town of Bennet.
The crash led to a derailment and some $350,000 in damages to the equipment and cars.
An investigator at the scene was approached by the teenager, who asked about what happened. The investigator said the cause was undetermined. What he was told next would change the course of the investigation.
“Obviously a switch was flipped the wrong way,” the teen responded, according to a warrant reviewed by KOLN-TV.
The statement was recognized as a potentially major lead.
Shortly before the teen approached, a conductor told the investigator that he noticed a switch was aligned the wrong way, but had no time to slow the weighed-down train.
The investigator found a padlock that was supposed to have locked the switch’s position missing entirely from the mechanism.
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The teen showed the investigator his video of the crash, and was reportedly even able to tell authorities where the switch was and how it functioned. He denied tampering with the switch mechanism.
Reviewing security footage from around the scene of the derailment, authorities found that a person parked a vehicle and walked toward the switch before the derailment. The switch itself was not visible by the cameras.
The teen was seen arriving at the scene in the same car before setting up his equipment and recording the crash.
The video was uploaded to a YouTube account linked to the teenager, KLKN-TV reported.
The teen also provided his video to KOLN-TV and it was put on the outlet’s own YouTube page.
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A search warrant lists the teen’s phone and recording devices as items wanted by authorities.
A motion has been filed to move the 17-year-old’s case from juvenile to adult county court.
