Transient arrested in Bend freight train fuel spill
A 47-year-old Bend transient was arrested Tuesday, charged with placing a metal rail on railroad tracks in northeast Bend late last month, puncturing a passing freight train’s fuel tank and spilling about 2,000 gallons of diesel along the tracks, police said.
George William Myers was arrested around 7:40 a.m. near the intersection of Northeast Second Street and Franklin Avenue, said Lt. Nick Parker.
Myers was booked into the Deschutes County Jail on first-degree charges of criminal mischief, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. His initial bail was set at $17,500.
Parker confirmed Wednesday that the charges allege Myers “intentionally placed a piece of the railroad track on the track, which caused the damage to the locomotive.”
Police had been called out late the morning of Dec. 23 to help Bend firefighters and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway crews with the diesel spill along the tracks that began north of Revere Avenue. Evidence suggested an object had been placed on the track to cause the damage to a southbound BNSF freight train.
The FBI had joined police and the railroad in investigating the incident, as it was believed to be intentional.
BNSF crews cleaned up fuel from two railroad crossings, at Olney and Revere avenues, and the Greenwood Avenue underpass, which was closed until the next day as it needed the most work.
Railroad spokesman Gus Melonas said at the time they were treating the incident as a case of local vandalism and trespassing, but were not ruling out sabotage.
