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Prankster nabbed in member's death Andrew Goltz, 20, was arrested days after the accident. He is charged with willful derailment or damage to a train involved in interstate commerce, U.S. Attorney Ted McBride said Aug. 30. In the incident, a Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad train was diverted to a side track and plowed into parked rail cars. 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, had his left arm amputated and suffered broken bones in his ankles and feet. Davis was a two-year member of the UTU. He is survived by a wife and five children. 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. According to reports, Goltz admitted that he broke a lock off the switching mechanism, moved the switch to direct the train off the main track and covered a warning reflector with a plastic garbage bag. Goltz claimed to have committed these acts as a "prank." Goltz has no connection to the DM&E nor any group opposed to the railroad's $1.4-billion plan to renovate some tracks and build a new line into the Wyoming coal fields, the FBI said. "There is no indication the act was caused by any animosity to the two individuals or to DM&E," McBride said. "They were in the way." If convicted, Goltz could face the death penalty on a statute that could for the first time in South Dakota lead to an execution, according to reports. The tip that led to Goltz' arrest came from two unnamed informants who told the FBI that Goltz admitted manipulating a switch that caused the derailment. The tipsters may share in a reward offered by DM&E and UTU. The DM&E offered a $20,000 reward for information in the case; the UTU offered $5,000. "That's the best $20,000 we've ever spent," DM&E President Kevin Schieffer said. The railroad operates in what is called "dark territory," on tracks without centralized control. Larger railroads have tracks that operate like an electrical circuit and are controlled by computers or train conductors. "If we had the system in place that we're trying to build, this never would have happened," Schieffer said. "Had this system been in place, that person would never have been able to throw that switch, or if he had, it would have sent signals and shut the railroad down." "There will never be another train crew or train worker that will go by a switch without thinking of Brad and Dennis or what could happen to them," he said. A small memorial of flowers and notes placed on a fence by the accident scene continues to grow. A flowered wreath from the Davis family hung beside a DM&E cap. Cards bearing handwritten notes from Davis' children adorned the wreath. "I hope you'll be proud of me," wrote Joshua Davis. "I love you Dad. I wish I could have seen you or told you I love you before you were taken from us. Love, McKenzie," reads another. |
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