No Criminal Charges For Engineer In Deadly 2013 Metro-North Derailment
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There will be no criminal charges for the Metro-North Railroad engineer who was behind the controls during a deadly derailment in the Bronx in 2013.
A spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney's office confirmed to CBS2's Tony Aiello that engineer William Rockefeller will not face charges. CBS2 has learned that the case was not presented to a grand jury after the DA's office determined there was no criminality involved.
CBS2 has also learned the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has filed administrative charges against Rockefeller. But Rockefeller's doctor said his patient is not medically fit even to attend disciplinary hearings, and thus, the process has not yet begun.
No Criminal Charges For Engineer In Deadly 2013 Metro-North Derailment
Rockefeller's attorney says his client now suffers post-traumatic stress and is unable to work, 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported.
Rockefeller remains on paid medical leave.
The derailment took place near the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx on Dec. 1, 2013. Four people --
James Lovell, Donna Smith, James Ferrari and Kisook Ahn -- were killed, and more than 70 were injured.
Last October, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that a sleep-deprived Rockefeller nodded off at the controls of the train just before taking a 30 mph curve at 82 mph.
No Criminal Charges For Engineer In Deadly 2013 Metro-North Derailment
Rockefeller's sleepiness was due to a combination of an undiagnosed disorder -- sleep apnea -- and a drastic shift in his work schedule, the NTSB said in the report.
The latest news about the Metro-North case came just days after an even deadlier derailment involving an Amtrak train in Philadelphia.
Eight people were killed this past Tuesday night when the train, which had been headed for Penn Station from Washington, D.C., skipped the tracks in Philadelphia's Port Richmond section. The speed topped out at 106 mph as it entered the curve where the wreck happened – and where the speed limit drops to 50 mph, the NTSB said.
