Stowaway Allegedly Tampers With Freight Train Brakes in Boyle Heights

BOYLE HEIGHTS, LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10 (KNN) — A stowaway allegedly tampered with the brakes of a hopper car, prompting a call to police from the train crew late Tuesday night.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollenbeck Division responded to the railroad tracks paralleling Myers Street in Boyle Heights after a report from a Union Pacific train crew said someone was tampering with the brakes on their train.

Officers made contact with the train’s conductor and brakeman and learned that a stowaway on a covered hopper rail car had closed a valve on the train’s air brake system forcing it to come to a stop.

The stowaway had fled prior to the crew’s inspection of the train and the LAPD’s arrival.

The crew was able to open the valve and were able to continue on their route without further delay.

Gabriel Pabon, Video Journalist / KNN