Nebraska teen allegedly derailed trains just to get ‘insane’ footage for YouTube
BySocial Links forMegan Palin
Published July 26, 2024, 1:14 p.m. ET
A teenager was charged this week with two felonies for allegedly derailing trains in Nebraska to film “insane” footage for YouTube.
The 17-year-old, who has not been identified because of his age, posted a 5-minute video of the April 21 derailment in Bennet, calling it the “MOST INSANE VIDEO I’VE EVER TAKEN!”
“Oh my God! Oh my frickin’ God!” he repeatedly gasped as he filmed two locomotives and five fully loaded railcars come off the rails — but remain upright — after hitting an empty one, causing $350,000 in damage.
“Are they OK?” he asks after the accident, which thankfully did not cause any injuries.
The teen was first to report the derailment — and even approached an investigator at the scene to show him the footage, according to Fox Nebraska.
He was charged Wednesday after investigators obtained a search warrant to seize a cellphone and a 4K digital recorder he used to film the wild footage — which he’d also shared with a local news station, according to KOLN.
He was hit with two counts of criminal mischief causing damage worth more than $5,000, both felonies, the outlet said.
Penalties could include a $15,000 fine and up to seven years in prison on each count.
A train conductor told investigators that as his train approached a crossing, he noticed a switch was misaligned, KOLN reports.
He tried to make an emergency stop, but couldn’t do so before reaching the spot where the missing switch should have been.
The investigator later found that a padlock that was supposed to be attached to the switch was missing — indicating that it had been tampered with.
The boy denied trespassing in the area and tampering with the switch, but the investigator wrote that he knew where the switch was and how it worked.
Authorities later went through surveillance video from the area and discovered a vehicle and a lone driver traveling around the area just before the derailment.
The footage showed a beige 1996 Buick Park Avenue traveling in the area, before the 17-year-old male was seen walking on the south side of the tracks toward the switch, according to the affidavit.
A motion has been filed to move the case from juvenile court to county court.
