One killed, another seriously hurt on DM&E
when train is diverted to siding by a trespasser

MINNEAPOLIS -- A United Transportation Union (UTU) member was killed and another was seriously injured early Saturday morning (August 26) when their Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern (DM&E) train was diverted to a siding and collided with eight parked railcars.

Conductor Bradley G. Davis, 38, a resident of Huron, S.D., and a member of UTU Local 64 in Huron, was killed in the wreck. Engineer Dennis C. Baum, also a resident of Huron and a member of UTU Local 64, was transported to Sioux Falls Hospital and is listed in serious condition.

Investigators believe that someone trespassing on the property may have thrown a switch that diverted the train to the siding, and DM&E President Kevin Schieffer said that the crash was the result of "criminal activity."

"The employees involved and everybody else did everything they were supposed to do," Schieffer said. "They were not at fault and are completely innocent."

The four-locomotive, 55-car train, which originated in Lamberton, Minn., was traveling westbound to Brookings, S.D., when it collided with the parked cars at approximately 3:40 a.m.

An eastbound train had passed safely through the area at approximately 2 a.m., and employees who were following in a pickup truck to inspect switches reported that all were in order at that time.

Schieffer said he has a composite drawing of a man who was seen leaving the vicinity of the accident and announced that the DM&E has issued a $25,000 reward for further information about the individual.

David Heller, a supervisor with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Sioux Falls, said they are looking for a slim white male, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing approximately 180 pounds, with dark brown shoulder-length hair. The man was wearing a light-blue baseball cap, a dark-blue T-shirt and washed-out blue jeans.

Davis was two-year member of the UTU. He is survived by a wife and five children.

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