Man parks stolen trucks on train tracks in attempt to derail a train
A man in Pennsylvania attempted to derail a train in a residential area by parking a stolen trucks along the tracks earlier this month.
The incident happened on November 3rd, just before 6 a.m. in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Charges were filed against the man, 34-year-old Scott Andrew Heffner, on Friday, November 7th.
According to TribLive, Police received a call from PPG paints on the morning of November 3rd, reporting that two of their tractor trailers had been moved overnight. Police responded to the call and found a 2018 Freightliner owned by Getgo Transportation parked along the railroad tracks on South Railroad Street. That truck was still in drive but turned off. A 2023 Kalmar yard tractor was then found parked across Colfax Street on the railroad tracks with a trailer attached to it.
Video footage showed Heffner moving the trucks, and driving to and from the scene in a car owned by his mother.
During the investigation, a friend of Heffner’s told police that he believed he was being watched and would soon be killed. Police were then able to contact Heffner, who willingly came to the police station for an interview.
During the interview, Heffner admitted to moving the vehicles and told police that “he was being watched and that his phone was talking to him, telling him to put the tractor trailers on the railroad tracks and to cut the power behind the building where the water was coming out.” He also “said he was being watched by the government and that they were trying to kill him.”
Heffner has been charged with felony counts of causing or risking a catastrophe, theft and receiving stolen property; misdemeanor counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle and loitering and prowling at night; and summary counts of defiant trespass.
He was booked into the Allegheny County Jail, where he is being held without bail for being a “threat and danger to the community” by trying to derail a train. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 17th.