Train hopper fails to cover his tracks after calling cops
Post Independent
Aspen, CO Colorado
GLENWOOD SPRINGS – A Fruita man was arrested in Glenwood Springs early Saturday after calling police from atop an eastbound freight train, asking them to stop the train so he could get off.
James Frank Salazar, 40, allegedly hopped on top of one of the train cars in Grand Junction sometime Friday evening.
After the train blew by Salazar’s intended destination of Parachute, he called police from a cell phone at some point west of Glenwood Springs, asking that the train be stopped, according to Glenwood Springs Police Chief Terry Wilson.
“He called us around 11:40 p.m., asking us to stop the train because he was freezing and wanted to get off,” Wilson said.
Salazar later told police he was bound for Parachute, where he was scheduled to work a job the next day, Wilson said. However, the train did not make a stop there and continued on toward Glenwood Springs.
The train stopped along Devereux Road in West Glenwood, where Salazar apparently was able to climb off.
Police officers contacted him in the lobby at one of the nearby Marriott hotels and arrested him, Wilson said.
“The railroad wanted to press charges for trespassing,” Wilson said.
Salazar remained in the Garfield County Jail Monday on a $150 bond, facing a charge of misdemeanor trespassing.
