(The following story by Victoria E. Freile appeared on the Democrat and Chronicle website on March 26.)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Monroe County sheriff’s deputies don’t know what motivated a group of teens to apparently place a 3-foot-wide boulder on railroad tracks near Chili Avenue in Chili Monday evening, shortly before a two-mile-long freight train plowed into it.
But authorities believe all five teens had a role in the incident, which caused damage to one of the train’s engines and blocked a portion of two roads for hours while the wreckage was cleared.
Sheriff’s deputies have charged each teen with felony counts of second-degree criminal mischief and interfering with a railroad.
Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Mackenzie was responding to the call about the westbound CSX freight train just before 6 p.m. when he saw the five teens walking away from the railroad crossing toward a nearby McDonald’s restaurant on Chili Avenue.
He questioned the teens, who allegedly told Mackenzie only that they had observed the incident.
Arrested, charged and arraigned late Monday were Michael A Ciaramaglia, 17, of Rochelle Drive, Riga; Joseph M. Neerbasch, 17, of Still Moon Crescent, Chili; Jordan M. Leipold, 16, of Privet Way, Chili; Joseph D. Relyea, 17, of Norway Spruce, Chili; and Aaron M. Spencer, 16, of Beaver Road, Chili.
All five were released on their own recognizance, said sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. John Helfer. They are due back in Chili Town Court at 6:30 p.m. Thursday with their attorneys.
Deputies said it appeared that the teens worked together to move the large rock onto the track from nearby. Authorities remain uncertain as to why they did it, Helfer said.
The accident was called in at 5:50 p.m. by a CSX train engineer who reported that the westbound train hauling 78 cars, most of them empty, struck the boulder. The rock hit the undercarriage of the train’s two engines, which “sustained substantial damage,” Helfer said.
The train did not derail, but it blocked portions of Chili Avenue and Old Scottsville-Chili Road near Suburban Propane and Memorial Park for nearly 11 hours.
No injuries were reported.
CSX spokesman Gary Sease said Tuesday that a preliminary damage estimate indicates the incident will cost the company thousands of dollars. A specific cost estimate was not immediately available.
The train was nearly empty, but was carrying automobiles from the Albany area to Buffalo, he said.
Sease described the incident as a “rare occurrence” and said graffiti sprayed on trains was a more common type of vandalism.
“Placing objects on the rails is a very dangerous practice,” Sease said. “Even being around railroad tracks is not a good idea. It can lead to all sorts of catastrophic results.”
Both Chili Avenue and Old Scottsville-Chili Road reopened just before 5 a.m. Tuesday, after CSX crews removed the train engine from the area. CSX crews reportedly used a large crane to remove one of the engines and clear the tracks.
Sease said the train was able to continue to Buffalo about 11:30 p.m., on the power of the one remaining engine. The second engine was left behind and pulled to a siding to be repaired, he said.
“We haven’t decided whether we will file any charges against the teens,” Sease said, adding that CSX officials plan to let Monroe deputies take the investigative lead. He declined to say whether CSX would seek reparations for the damage.