Published: March 25, 2008 11:50 am         

Five arrested for riding the rails

Police arrested five people riding illegally aboard a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train Saturday night.

Michael Greenleaf, 21, of Houston; Nicholas Cromwell, 24; Robert Stack, 24, of Naples, Fla.; Rachel Oaks, 20, of Lancaster and Aaron Folkertsma, 25, of Lapeer, Mich. were taken into custody after they were found inside a railcar.

Three of the five individuals told police they are homeless.

All five were charged with interference with railway property.

“BNSF police let us know they were on the train,” said Chief Steven Fleming of the Gainesville Police Department.

Fleming said law-enforcement agencies often work with railway police in cases involving trains and other railway property.

When BNSF officers realize an individual has stowed away, they usually stop at the next available place to check the railcar, he said.

Riding in a boxcar is dangerous and illegal, he noted.

“It’s a liability issue for BNSF,” he said.

When they were discovered, some of the occupants of the rail car made a run for it, he said.

All the suspects were rounded up and taken into custody.

Oaks and Folkertsma were charged with evading arrest, according to a police arrest report.

Each is also charged with a state jail felony.

The incident also caused another problem.

Taking the suspects into custody delayed an Amtrak passenger train for a time, Fleming said.

The delay enhanced the charges of interference with railroad property to state jail felonies because there is a fine attached to circumstances including criminal offenses on railways that delay other trains.

Trespassing, according to BNSF media director Joe Faust, is a charge his company takes seriously.

BNSF police are certified peace officers and can arrest trespassers in many states.

BNSF officers work with law-enforcement officers across the United States and in portions of Canada, Faust said.

“We take trespassing very seriously, particularly in this heightened atmosphere of security. We do have the authority to prosecute,” he said.

BNSF officials will decide how to charge the suspects.

“Each case is reviewed and evaluated on an individual basis,” Faust said.

Fleming said the suspects are in jail and can either bond out or await their hearings.