Charges Dropped Against LIRR Rider Accused of Operating Train

A judge has dismissed charges against a Long Island Rail Road commuter who was accused of operating a train with the authorization of the engineer.

The July 2009 incident led to misdemeanor reckless endangerment charges being filed against William Kutsch of East Setauket, who is also a court stenographer, whom prosecutors said was allowed to operate a rush hour train during the morning commute from Hicksville to the Hunterspoint Avenue station in Queens. An estimated 400 commuters ride the train daily.

“The court found was that there was no legally sufficient evidence to support the allegation that he actually did anything to operate the train,” Marc Gann, a Mineola attorney representing Kutsch, said after the Feb. 28 written decision from Justice Margaret Reilly was released.

LIRR engineer Ronald Cabrera pled guilty to official misconduct for allowing Kutsch into the cab and was dismissed from his job in 2009, but he is reportedly appealing the decision to terminate his position.

According to Gann, Cabrera was going through a divorce proceeding and “knew my client had a familiarity with the court system and on the train ride he invited him into the cab to talk about the way the court system works and who the good lawyers were and that sort of thing.”

The two men had no previous relationship and only knew each other by being on the same train each day.

“You sort of get to know people on the train that way,” Gann said of his client who “had a relationship with the conductor and that they were friends.”

While a witness did see Kutsch go into the cab, Gann’s client could not be confirmed as the one operating the train and no cameras existed in the engineer cab.

Gann stated that Cabrera and Kutsch were sitting in the cab having a conversation and blamed one of the passengers “who didn’t particularly care for either my client or for the engineer,” who reported the incident.

Prosecutors are asking Judge Reilly to reexamine an affidavit from the witness to the incident.