Bellingham woman convicted of railroad sabotage, placing shunt on tracks

Bellingham woman convicted of railroad sabotage, placing shunt on tracks

A 28-year-old lady from Bellingham was convicted in federal court docket right now of violence towards a railroad firm.

A jury for the Western District of Washington discovered Ellen Reiche responsible of shunting a Bellingham railroad in November 2020.

One other Bellingham lady, Samantha Brooks, 24, was arrested with Reiche and pleaded responsible earlier this summer time. Brooks and Reiche face 20 years imprisonment every.

The 2 had been discovered late at night time on prepare tracks in Bellingham final November. They wore darkish garments and a bag with instruments. A shunt was discovered on the tracks close by.

By disrupting railroad alerts, shunts may be deadly. These embody prepare derailments and turning off railroad warning lights and poles in order that automobiles by accident cross the tracks when a prepare arrives.

Reiche and Brooks informed the police on the time that they had been in search of a misplaced keychain. Nevertheless, prosecutors discovered that they didn’t use flashlights and didn’t even carry telephones. As well as, they each had filth on their garments and the shunt was lined in filth.

The jury deliberated about three hours earlier than reaching a verdict. Brooks and Reiche might be convicted later this yr.

The FBI has been investigating greater than 40 circumstances of shunts laid alongside railroads in Whatcom and Skagit counties since final yr. TThese tracks had been focal factors for protests towards oil and coal trains.

A prepare derailment north of Bellingham in Custer final December didn’t injure anybody however spilled 29,000 gallons of crude oil. The reason for this derailment continues to be being investigated by the NTSB and FBI.

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