Published: July 08, 2009 11:41 pm         

CSX police conduct ‘Trespass Blitz’

Aim is to educate public on property owned by railroad

TERRE HAUTE — Flashing red and blue lights on the large white police SUV made it clear someone was in trouble.

Two men were discovered Wednesday on property owned by CSX Railroad near 19th Street and Margaret Avenue, an area known as the Baker Rail Yard.

A pair of CSX Railroad police vehicles — one carrying a large, barking police dog — were parked at the scene as several CSX police officers questioned the two. It turned out the men were working on a billboard that stands next to Interstate 70 just south of Margaret Avenue. The two men had parked their pickup truck on railroad property and had likely driven on railroad property to arrive at the base of the billboard.

“They were trespassing,” said special agent Scott Karcher of the CSX police. Railroad police have full police powers, including the ability to arrest, issue citations and impose fines, according to Operation Lifesaver, a not-for-profit railroad safety organization.

Despite allegedly trespassing, the men were allowed to resume their work once police knew what the two were doing and informed them they were on private property. “We try to work with people,” Karcher said.

For several hours on Wednesday, several CSX police SUVs carrying armed CSX officers patrolled rail yards in Terre Haute. They were looking for anyone trespassing on railroad property.

“Every night” someone trespasses on railroad property near John’s Auto Parts at 25th Street and Florida Avenue, said John Hollifield, owner of the business. The trespassers walk across railroad property at the Duane Rail Yard to enter his business property, he said.

On Wednesday, however, near Hollifield’s business, uniformed CSX police officers carried out their “trespassing blitz.” The “blitz” was a joint effort by Operation Lifesaver, CSX and the Terre Haute Police Department to educate the public about railroad safety, said Jessica Feder, executive director of Operation Lifesaver in Indianapolis.

Rain cut down on the number of citations and warnings issued Wednesday during the blitz, Feder said. Just two trespassing citations were issued. “Normally there would be quite a few more,” Feder said. “We’ve had an influx of trespassing over the past few weeks.”

Operation Lifesaver is an effort to educate the public about the dangers of trespassing on railroad property, Feder said. The effort comes about two weeks after a Terre Haute man was struck by a train on a railroad trestle over Otter Creek in North Terre Haute on June 23.

The man, 21-year-old Mark Priehs, was holding his 3-year-old son Braden on the trestle when a CSX train roared past. The train knocked the two into Otter Creek, where other people were swimming at the time. Mark Priehs was taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis where he remained as of Wednesday afternoon. His young son, Braden, was taken to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where he was listed in good condition soon after the incident and was later released.

“You usually get hurt pretty badly” when coming into contact with a moving train, Feder said. “We’re really trying to reduce” those types of incidents, she said.

Approximately every two hours, a person or vehicle is struck by a train in the United States, according to Operation Lifesaver. In 2008, more than 870 Americans were killed or injured in railroad-related trespassing incidents, according to the organization’s Web site.

In Indiana, seven pedestrians were killed in railroad-related incidents in Indiana alone last year, according to the Web site.



Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

     

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