Amtrak passenger accused of strangling crew member

A 22-year-old man riding an Amtrak train demanded to get off the train Sunday evening and reportedly put a choke hold on an employee until other passengers and crew intervened and held him in place until he was arrested, Lane County sheriff’s deputies said.

Hugo Galvan, who had boarded the train in Portland, approached a female railroad employee as the train neared Dexter Reservoir, asked to use a phone and demanded to get off the train, sheriff’s Sgt. Carrie Carver said.

Galvan reportedly put the worker in a type of choke hold until another passenger intervened. Carver said several other train employees and passengers helped control Galvan until the train stopped in Oakridge, where police detained Galvan, whose hometown was not known.

Two people aboard the train were injured, including the employee Galvan reportedly strangled and a passenger hurt while trying to subdue him, Carver said.

Carver said it’s not known why Galvan wanted off the train, which was carrying 158 passengers and a crew of 16.

Galvan was booked into the Lane County Jail on charges of strangulation, menacing, two counts of fourth-degree assault and interfering with public transportation.

The sergeant thanked Oakridge police and Oregon State Police for their help, as well as “the brave men and women aboard the train for assisting the railway employee and subduing Galvan until the train could be stopped.”