Tried as an adult and that is all he gets is three years probation? They posted the video on the internet even though it is not part of this story. Even a realtively slow speed accident…should still get a stiffer sentence then this, in my opinion.
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This won’t teach him anything. I wonder if he has any psychopathic tendencies where his intent wasn’t just to get looks on Youtube but also actually injure crewmembers?
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Story said five years’ probation. Story is very skimpy but I’m curious where he found an unlocked switch to throw. Do they not do that any more? Probation means that if he screws up again the sentencing will be revisited.
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I’m gonna take a wild guess in that he may have had a key.
That is pathetic. Not even house arrest.
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In a news story at the time (unfortunately titled "‘Railroad enthusiast’ accused of causing April train derailment in Bennet"), it said the lock was “missing”. He may have simply used a tool to cut the lock and remove it?
Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCYE1ssM6u0
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The teen, described in court documents as a train enthusiast was the one who alerted authorities to the incident and was still on the scene when they arrived.
So the description of him was accurate He was a foamer, a weird one. He looks odd.
I cannot find any real details about the trial but I wonder if the light sentence was for several factors: 1. Kid was 17 at the time of incident 2. Could the kid be developmentally disabled?
Light, indeed.
"Hertzler is now a convicted felon, which carries some consequences of its own. And he sentenced him to five years of probation, plus 90 days of jail, the first 30 of which start Monday and can be on house arrest. The remaining 60 days would be in 15-day increments once a year in June unless waived by his probation officer.
Hertzler, 19, had faced up to two years in prison."
From (Paywalled) [Teen sentenced for causing train derailment to post video]
(Bennet teen sentenced for causing train derailment so he could record it, post video online)
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Tree’s comments about this might be interesting. I believe there are well-established problems with people who are ‘fire service enthusiasts’ known to set fires so they can watch the apparatus and excitement. Add in the potential to monetize sensational disaster ‘catches’…
Seems that much of the announced evidence was circumstantial. I’d be interested to see the surveillance footage for the time before he set up his tripod and awaited the train…
So possible motivations could include (but not limited to) greed, a sociopathic desire to cause a train wreck or a developmental naïveté? Time will tell.
They placed his vehicle at the switch (had video) prior to the train coming. I’m not sure if they had video of him at the switch. That’s what I read after he was charged.
From a previous Journal Star article. I’m not sure if this is beyond circumstantial in the legal sense.
“…investigators were able to get security footage from the Frontier Coop, which showed a car that looked like the teen’s park and the driver walk toward the switch, out of view of the camera, and run back soon after. A video from another angle showed the teen drive out of view, then return and park and quickly set up a tripod.”
Unless you have Johnny Cochran as the Defense Counsel, that can be seen as coberating circumstantial evidence.
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The concensus at the time was that he had done it because it would increase hits on his YouTube page.
I’ve heard of one case where the ‘fire service enthusiast’ was a member of a volunteer fire department.