Police chief cautions citizens about stopped trains
"A call came into our office this past week about people crawling under a stopped Union Pacific train," said Peabody police chief Bruce Burke. "We were notified by a Peabody resident who saw the incident and by the railroad."
No arrests were made.
"That is a terrible chance to take," he said. "Trains stop and start with no warning. In this case, the train started immediately after the individuals were clear of the car they were crawling under."
Burke urged parents and guardians to remind young people not to try to crawl under the train or over the coupling mechanism between cars.
"They should just stay put," he said. "No one is in such a hurry that they should risk losing a limb or dying."
According to Burke it is against the law for anyone to be crawling beneath a train car, or climbing over the couplings or any other area of the train.
"If anyone sees activity around a stopped train, whether it is children or adults, I would appreciate knowing about it," he said. "It's a dangerous place to be and we would like to crack down on this behavior before we have a tragic accident."
Peabody police officers can be reached at 983-2133. There also is an anonymous reporting form available on the city's web site, www.peabodyks.com. Information will be kept confidential.
