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Off roaders detained for questioning in possible link to railroad thefts
Topics: railroad theft, offroaders, arrest
Posted by editor Mon Feb 26, 2007 11:32:16 PST
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0 responses 0 comments Two off-road enthusiasts who were seen driving on private property and the Union Pacific trackside right-of-way were briefly detained for questioning then released by the Kern County Sheriff’s Department and Union Pacific Railroad police on Feb. 18, after residents in the Marcel Road area observed them stop and load a large cardboard box into a pick-up truck.

Area resident Mary Janicke said the suspects parked on private property before crossing the tracks and heading directly for the semi-obscured package near a culvert, off to the trackside.

“I saw them suspiciously running across the tracks and hardly anyone does that,” she said, indicating that most rail fans usually walk along the tracks, taking pictures. “I knew something else was up and I immediately thought of the railroad bandits.”

Residents in the area have been hyper-vigilant to trespassers since an ongoing investigation was acknowledged in October of 2006 by Union Pacific representative Mark Davis. Davis indicated that a rise in thefts from stopped trains in the Tehachapi Loop area had brought out railroad police to inform local ranchers and homeowners to be on the lookout for thieves. Some of the ranchers had fences and or locks cut on their property and speculated that it was done to provide alternative access routes to later collect stolen items being off-loaded from the stopped trains. Local ranchers also claimed the agents indicated the thieves could possibly be armed. (see full story online at www.tehachapinews.com, Horse killed on highway attributed to recent rise in train robberies, Oct. 30, 2006)
Janicke notified local law enforcement officials after she saw the trespassers, expressing her concern that a recent increase in off-roaders and trespassers in the area poses an increased threat to residents safety, as well as an invasion of privacy.

A short time later the suspect’s vehicle was located and detained along Tehachapi-Woodford Road by responding Kern County Sheriffs Deputies, who deferred the investigation to UP Special Agent Henning.

After interviewing the two men, Henning cleared them of any theft charges. According to UP media spokesperson Gene Hinkle, the men claimed they had seen the box on the ground and that they were planning to take it to the Union Pacific Area Office, in Tehachapi.

“They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.

Hinkle said he was unaware of any additional railcar thefts or of any progress or conclusion to the investigation that was begun in October by Union Pacific.

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