(The following story by Teresa Pham appeared on the California Aggie website on April 27.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On the night of Apr. 16, two Amtrak personnel were brutally attacked by a group of five to seven youths with a fire extinguisher and a bottle. Only one suspect is currently being held in custody, and police are working to identify four additional suspects.
The suspect, a 17-year-old, will be charged as an adult due to the severity of the attack. The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office has filed 14 felony charges against the suspect, including attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
“The district attorney is authorized to directly file on juveniles when they commit serious felonies,” said Jeff Reisig, district attorney for Yolo County. “Generally this is the first assault of its kind that I’ve heard of in terms of an attack on Amtrak engineers.”
Reisig said he is not able to comment on specific details of the case.
“I can’t get into the facts,” he said. “I’m precluded by law at this point from talking about that.”
The attack occurred at 10:15 p.m. while Capitol Corridor train 546 was driving slowly because of reports of trespassers on the train tracks. Because the youth were on the train tracks, the train was forced to a stop. According to reports, the conductor got off of the train and tried to get the individuals to move. The individuals allegedly beat and robbed the engineer after the engineer attempted to intervene.
After the attack, a student conductor guided the train into the Sacramento station. According to an Amtrak spokesperson, there were still eight passengers aboard the train at the time, but they were not involved in the attacks.
The engineer was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where he was treated for head injuries and possible internal injuries.
In addition to being a minor, the suspect is a registered member of the Broderick Boys, a West Sacramento criminal street gang, and was originally going to be charged with violating the injunction that was imposed on the Broderick Boys in February 2005. The injunction forbade registered members of the Broderick Boys from gathering together in public within a three-square-mile area of West Sacramento and also imposed a 10 p.m. curfew on the group.
However, the injunction was reversed Monday by a state appellate court on the basis that the city did not give all the alleged gang members enough advance notice before serving the injunction.
Reisig said the fact that the suspect would not be charged with violating the injunction made little difference on his case.
“That’s the least of his concerns,” he said. “These suspects are facing charges of attempted robbery, assault, battery, vandalism, mayhem, attempted murder, so those are some serious charges.”
Reisig said at this point, Yolo County is resolving the incident in court.
“We’re proceeding in court on the assault and gang charges,” he said. “The next hearing is May 3, and that will be for a preliminary examination.”