(The Associated Press circulated the following on May 6,2009.)
PORTAGE, Ind. — A conductor on northern Indiana’s South Shore commuter rail line has been charged with battery after he allegedly threw a passenger off his train.
Forty-eight-year-old Gregory Beach of Valparaiso was charged with misdemeanor battery for the March 28 incident at a stop in Chesterton.
Porter County prosecutors say Beach pushed Gary resident Calvin Kirk off the top train steps at the Dune Park station, causing Kirk to lose teeth and suffer cuts and abrasions.
Kirk attorney Mitch Peters says his client was sleeping when he was roused by Beach and tossed face first off the train. He says Kirk was posing no threat.
Charles Parkinson, an attorney for the company that operates the line, says it is conducting an internal investigation and Beach could face disciplinary action in accordance with the line’s collective bargaining agreement.