A 17-year-old has been charged with causing a train to go off the tracks in Nebraska in April.
Local news stations NTV News, KLKN-TV, and KOLN-TV all reported that the teen, who has not been named because of his age, was charged with two felonies of criminal damage in Lancaster County Juvenile Court on July 24.
NBC News reports that prosecutors also asked for the teen’s case to be moved from juvenile court to adult court.
The news sites got a search warrant affidavit that said BNSF Railway officials were told at 6:10 p.m. local time on April 21 that two of their locomotives and five rail cars had derailed near Monroe and Juniper streets in Bennet after hitting an empty rail car. Damage from the derailment was expected to be $350,000.
A BNSF Railway inspector was told by the train’s conductor that he saw a switch that wasn’t lined up right, which caused the train to go off-route and onto an industry track. According to the news sources, he tried to make an emergency stop but couldn’t before the switch’s location, which caused the accident.
According to NTV News and KLKN-TV, when officials went to look into the track, they found that a switch was in the wrong place and its lock was missing. This made them think that it had been “tampered with.”
The kid told the police about what happened. He said he was a “railroad enthusiast” who took videos of trains to share on social media. When the police showed up, he was already at the spot and asked them about the fall. The news sources said that he also told them that he had videotaped the whole thing.
Investigators told KOLN-TV that the boy denied trespassing in the area but knew where the switch was and how it worked.
Investigators got security footage three days later that showed a brown 1996 Buick Park Avenue driving nearby before the teen got out and walked toward the switch. NTV News said he then came back on camera, got back in his car, and drove off.
According to NTV News and KLKN-TV, footage then showed him parking his car and putting up his video camera near the crossing just before the train derailed.
KLKN-TV reports that investigators wrote in the affidavit that they wanted to look through the 17-year-old’s cell phone and recording equipment for any proof that could connect him to the crime.
A BNSF spokesperson told PEOPLE that someone has been arrested, but they couldn’t say anything else because the probe is still going on.
People asked the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office for a reaction, but they didn’t answer right away.
KOLN-TV reported that Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon said the teen was not in jail at the moment. The outlet says that his next court date has not yet been set.
