(The following appeared on the Chicago Tribune website on May 15, 2009.)
CHICAGO — A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for damaging a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad switching shed with a pipe bomb early Tuesday, authorities said Thursday.
The blast occurred inside the concrete building near Sugar Grove and severely damaged electronic components that controlled rail switches for the railroad’s Aurora line, officials said.
The pipe bomb was apparently dropped through a rooftop air vent, railroad police and the Kane County sheriff’s office determined.
No one was injured, but the blast caused a major disruption of rail traffic for several hours to the railroad’s Aurora line, which carries both freight traffic and Amtrak passenger trains.
Authorities are asking anyone with information to call the Chicago FBI at 312-421-6700 or the railroad’s tip line at 800-832-5452.