(The following report by Steve Large appeared at www.cbs13.com on March 23, 2010.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An Amtrak employee is now being disciplined after cutting the lock on a woman’s bike and letting someone walk away with it.
In Lorena Beightler’s case, her bike was stolen minutes before she stepped aboard the train, after an Amtrak employee admitted that he broke her bike lock, and tossed her bike off the platform.
Lorena’s train was set to arrive and apparently she had ten minutes to spare. So, she decided to get a cup of coffee, locked her bike to the fence, and when she came back her bike was gone.
When Lorena questioned the employee about the missing bike he got angry. Apparently, bikes are not allowed to be locked up on the platform.
“And I thought why are you being so aggressive with me? I’m being so polite and you’re being so condescending and rude,” she said.
In a city like Davis, where cycling is next to saintly, Lorena’s story traveled fast.
“Cause I thought that they were trying to encourage bike riding and that seemed like a silly thing for them to do,” says local cyclist, Jimmy Calanchini.
Amtrak says the employee is being disciplined, and that breaking bike locks is not company policy. The employee even agreed to pay for Lorena’s bike out of his own pocket. But, Lorena says that she owes that to the people of Davis.
“It was because of them pressuring Amtrak, I believe, that this got somewhat resolved,” says Lorena.