Fight

[MrEd]

A northern California man was arrested after witnesses say he hit an Amtrak conductor in the head with a wine bottle during a fight aboard a Capitol Corridor train Saturday night, according to Suisun City police.

Gregory Valencia, 39, of Concord faced several possible charges including felony assault for the confrontation that happened aboard Amtrak Capitol train No. 749 from Sacramento to Berkeley last night, Suisun City police Sgt. Andrew White said.

Witnesses on the train reported Valencia and a visibly intoxicated friend boarded the train in Sacramento for the 7:10 p.m. departure. Valencia's friend was denied alcohol in the train's cafe car, so Valencia allegedly bought alcohol himself and gave it to his friend.

When the train conductor confronted the men about the purchase, Valencia grabbed a wine bottle and hit him in the head. Valencia was arrested by Suisun City police after trying to get off the train at the Suisun Amtrak station, White said.

The conductor was taken off the train at Suisun City and received stitches to his head at an area hospital before being released.

http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=75792

 

[yarrow]

too bad. does amtrak have a policy on allowing intoxicated persons to board? i have seen a lot of alcohol abuse on amtrak and am bothered by it. it is a rare journey in the ppc where i haven't seen one passenger or a group obviously drunk and interferring with my and my kids experience. i suppose amtrak makes a fair amount off of booze sales but i would not mind an alcohol ban or at least "no public consumption" on trains. not going to happen but considering smoking used to be allowed nearly anywhere on trains and is now banned, who knows?

 

[Green Maned Lion]

That sound's exaggerated.

Conductor: "Sir, why did you buy your friend liquor?"

Velancia: "WHY I OUGHTTA!" *CLUNK*

 

[Green Maned Lion]

too bad. does amtrak have a policy on allowing intoxicated persons to board? i have seen a lot of alcohol abuse on amtrak and am bothered by it. it is a rare journey in the ppc where i haven't seen one passenger or a group obviously drunk and interferring with my and my kids experience. i suppose amtrak makes a fair amount off of booze sales but i would not mind an alcohol ban or at least "no public consumption" on trains. not going to happen but considering smoking used to be allowed nearly anywhere on trains and is now banned, who knows?

Puh-lease. Instead of banning it, like we do everything else, how about we just install a "reasonable and prudent" law like we should be doing with everything else?

Fact of the matter is, me happily sipping a martini with my lunch doesn't interfere with other peoples experience on the train. It should not be banned. A guy ****-drunk raving like a lunatic should be thrown off the train. The crime isn't in his consumption of alcohol- there is nothing wrong with that. His crime is in being irresponsible. Drunk is not an excuse for being irresponsible. You chose to be responsible in how much alcohol you imbibe. And that is the truth.

 

[RailFanLNK]

I think policing things would work better. The guy arrested and kicked off that train was me 23 years ago. I was that person who ruined football games, vacations, bbq's, family renunions by not handling alcohol but having alcohol handle me. I usually always find a place on the train away from anyone who is really getting intoxicated. Most of the times I have a roomette but when I go coach, I try to be friendly but not overly excited to be by someone drunk as crud. I've also found if a drunk is pestering me, I start to talk about Jesus and my faith and throw out a bible verse or two. They usually run after the first comment or two. It works every time for me.

 

[Guest]

too bad. does amtrak have a policy on allowing intoxicated persons to board? i have seen a lot of alcohol abuse on amtrak and am bothered by it. it is a rare journey in the ppc where i haven't seen one passenger or a group obviously drunk and interferring with my and my kids experience. i suppose amtrak makes a fair amount off of booze sales but i would not mind an alcohol ban or at least "no public consumption" on trains. not going to happen but considering smoking used to be allowed nearly anywhere on trains and is now banned, who knows?

What is wrong with allowing a intoxicated person to board? As long as they behave then then it is not an issue. If you deny me my booze in coach there is no way I will ever do an overnight in coach again. If the drunks are interfering with your experience then you need to talk to the conductor. If the conductor doesn't take you seriously then you are probably just whining and need to learn to get along with people in public.

As far as I am concerned the train crew did everything the way it should in this situation. The drunk got denied, the friend tried to circumvent it and the conductor took care of it. Conductors have to lay down the law and dealing with drunks is just part of their job.

 

[Guest]

I've also found if a drunk is pestering me, I start to talk about Jesus and my faith and throw out a bible verse or two. They usually run after the first comment or two. It works every time for me.

This is a much better way to handle things than trying to regulate everyone's morality.

 

[sunchaser]

I've also found if a drunk is pestering me, I start to talk about Jesus and my faith and throw out a bible verse or two. They usually run after the first comment or two. It works every time for me.

This is a much better way to handle things than trying to regulate everyone's morality.

As someone who goes to a rescue mission regularly, they don't always run when you talk about Jesus.

Depends on what they are there for.

I'd rather have them stick around & hear about Jesus than try to run them off.

Ah, but our laws are there to regulate morality.

I feel bad for the Conductor. I'm sure he didn't want to end his shift that way.

Clearly the drunk guy who hit him, IMHO, should not have been allowed on the train.

 

[RRrich]

Limit alcohol sales? I hope not - Mark, Chris and I were in the PPC - Mark and I only had a couple of bottles of wine but Chris was intent on drinking all the Corona on the train. I had my computer so we had Sinatra playing in the background and we were sitting and talking quietly enjoying ourselves. I know that I should not have had my music broadcast into the car but Marti the Parlor car attendant asked me to turn it up so she could enjoy it too. We were not disturbing/bothering anyone, there was no one else around

There we sat, three guys on the edge of inebriation, HANDLING OUR ALCOHOL PROPERLY, enjoying ourselves, bothering no one. Its not alcohol that is the problem, its folks who cannot handle it that are the problem!

 

[amtrakwolverine]

I've also found if a drunk is pestering me, I start to talk about Jesus and my faith and throw out a bible verse or two. They usually run after the first comment or two. It works every time for me.

This is a much better way to handle things than trying to regulate everyone's morality.

As someone who goes to a rescue mission regularly, they don't always run when you talk about Jesus.

Depends on what they are there for.

I'd rather have them stick around & hear about Jesus than try to run them off.

Ah, but our laws are there to regulate morality.

I feel bad for the Conductor. I'm sure he didn't want to end his shift that way.

Clearly the drunk guy who hit him, IMHO, should not have been allowed on the train.

it was the drunk guys friend who hit the conductor not the drunk himself. both were drunk as a skunk though. i bet they got thrown out of a bar somewhere and boarded the train so they could continue drinking and when drunk 1 couldn't get any booze he sent his drunk friend to get it for him. then when confronted drunk 2 assaulted the conductor. no word if drunk 1 was charged with anything. if this was Michigan they would have been arrested just for being drunk on a train as that itself is illegal in michigan.

 

[Nickrapak]

I think that as long as you are handling yourself properly, you can be as drunk as you want to be. However, the moment that you start to annoy people (note I said people, not one person who complains at the drop of a hat), you will be put off at the next station.

 

[dlagrua]

A person who is drunk should be denied access to public rail transportation unless someone ( a sober person) is taking him/her home to sleep it off. We should take all steps necessary to minimize any potential problems arising from intoxicated persons on Amtrak. Protecting the crew and passengers should be of utmost concern. However, as most people drink and behave responsibly, I firmly believe that liquor sales should continue on Amtrak . Just because some hooligans create a problem on a train, we have no right to punish the good folks by preventing their access to a couple of drinks.

 

[had8ley]

All I want to say about this is this clown will be lucky to serve time in a county jail because he was interfering with Interstate Commerce which is a Federal felony; there is no parole in the Federal Penal System. He could grow very old in a Federal pen especially after the conductor had to be stitched up and removed from the train with this jerk. Anyone advocating transport of obvious drunks has thin insight into the problems they can, and most often do, create for pax and crew.

 

[Bootman4U]

I suppose we should be happy these two weren't on the road driving.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

All I want to say about this is this clown will be lucky to serve time in a county jail because he was interfering with Interstate Commerce which is a Federal felony; there is no parole in the Federal Penal System. He could grow very old in a Federal pen especially after the conductor had to be stitched up and removed from the train with this jerk. Anyone advocating transport of obvious drunks has thin insight into the problems they can, and most often do, create for pax and crew.

Unfortunately, unless laws have changed in the past several years, since this was INTRAstate service, the Feds probably cannot get involved. It sort of reminds me how before Airline Deregulation, carriers that operated solely within a state were exempt from fare and some other Federal regulations.

But either way, let us hope he gets before a judge that gives him the max!

 

[AlanB]

All I want to say about this is this clown will be lucky to serve time in a county jail because he was interfering with Interstate Commerce which is a Federal felony; there is no parole in the Federal Penal System. He could grow very old in a Federal pen especially after the conductor had to be stitched up and removed from the train with this jerk. Anyone advocating transport of obvious drunks has thin insight into the problems they can, and most often do, create for pax and crew.

Unfortunately, unless laws have changed in the past several years, since this was INTRAstate service, the Feds probably cannot get involved. It sort of reminds me how before Airline Deregulation, carriers that operated solely within a state were exempt from fare and some other Federal regulations.

But either way, let us hope he gets before a judge that gives him the max!

Amtrak falls under Federal Regs and therefore operates under Federal laws. I'm pretty sure that this is a Federal issue.

However, even if it's not, most states have some pretty tough laws for assaulting a train crewmember.

 

[had8ley]

All I want to say about this is this clown will be lucky to serve time in a county jail because he was interfering with Interstate Commerce which is a Federal felony; there is no parole in the Federal Penal System. He could grow very old in a Federal pen especially after the conductor had to be stitched up and removed from the train with this jerk. Anyone advocating transport of obvious drunks has thin insight into the problems they can, and most often do, create for pax and crew.

Unfortunately, unless laws have changed in the past several years, since this was INTRAstate service, the Feds probably cannot get involved. It sort of reminds me how before Airline Deregulation, carriers that operated solely within a state were exempt from fare and some other Federal regulations.

But either way, let us hope he gets before a judge that gives him the max!

Amtrak falls under Federal Regs and therefore operates under Federal laws. I'm pretty sure that this is a Federal issue.

However, even if it's not, most states have some pretty tough laws for assaulting a train crewmember.

Pretty much the same as if you punch your mail man in the nose; the local police are going to cart you off but the Feds are going to prosecute you.

 

[RRrich]

Anyone advocating transport of obvious drunks has thin insight into the problems they can, and most often do, create for pax and crew.

I'm glad you put in the word OBVIOUS - If someone with a whole bunch of alcohol in his system is poured into a seat where he passes out/sleeps, I think that that is fine - I'm glad that he isn't driving.

I don't have problems with drunks, I have problems with folks acting like fools

 

[GG-1]

I don't have problems with drunks, I have problems with folks acting like fools

Including "method" actors. :lol:

Aloha

 

[rrdude]

I don't have problems with drunks, I have problems with folks acting like fools

Including "method" actors. :lol:

Aloha

Especially method actors........

 

[tp49]

All I want to say about this is this clown will be lucky to serve time in a county jail because he was interfering with Interstate Commerce which is a Federal felony; there is no parole in the Federal Penal System. He could grow very old in a Federal pen especially after the conductor had to be stitched up and removed from the train with this jerk. Anyone advocating transport of obvious drunks has thin insight into the problems they can, and most often do, create for pax and crew.

Unfortunately, unless laws have changed in the past several years, since this was INTRAstate service, the Feds probably cannot get involved. It sort of reminds me how before Airline Deregulation, carriers that operated solely within a state were exempt from fare and some other Federal regulations.

But either way, let us hope he gets before a judge that gives him the max!

Amtrak falls under Federal Regs and therefore operates under Federal laws. I'm pretty sure that this is a Federal issue.

However, even if it's not, most states have some pretty tough laws for assaulting a train crewmember.

Pretty much the same as if you punch your mail man in the nose; the local police are going to cart you off but the Feds are going to prosecute you.

Not always. A good example was when the engineer and conductor were attacked on the tracks in West Sacramento. The perps in that case were tried in state court.

 

[had8ley]

All I want to say about this is this clown will be lucky to serve time in a county jail because he was interfering with Interstate Commerce which is a Federal felony; there is no parole in the Federal Penal System. He could grow very old in a Federal pen especially after the conductor had to be stitched up and removed from the train with this jerk. Anyone advocating transport of obvious drunks has thin insight into the problems they can, and most often do, create for pax and crew.

Unfortunately, unless laws have changed in the past several years, since this was INTRAstate service, the Feds probably cannot get involved. It sort of reminds me how before Airline Deregulation, carriers that operated solely within a state were exempt from fare and some other Federal regulations.

But either way, let us hope he gets before a judge that gives him the max!

Amtrak falls under Federal Regs and therefore operates under Federal laws. I'm pretty sure that this is a Federal issue.

However, even if it's not, most states have some pretty tough laws for assaulting a train crewmember.

Pretty much the same as if you punch your mail man in the nose; the local police are going to cart you off but the Feds are going to prosecute you.

Not always. A good example was when the engineer and conductor were attacked on the tracks in West Sacramento. The perps in that case were tried in state court.

Yes, you are right but I firmly believe the Feds have first crack at prosecuting . We had a crew stopped at the main switch to get into Settegast Yard in Houston. Two punks climbed on board and cleaned the crew out of wallets, grips and even their wedding rings. The local police caught them pawning the goods...their punishment? Six months probation from a local court.

 

[Chris J.]

Anyone advocating transport of obvious drunks has thin insight into the problems they can, and most often do, create for pax and crew.

I'm glad you put in the word OBVIOUS - If someone with a whole bunch of alcohol in his system is poured into a seat where he passes out/sleeps, I think that that is fine - I'm glad that he isn't driving.

I don't have problems with drunks, I have problems with folks acting like fools

Some people act like fools with or without the drink...

 

[Guest]

too bad. does amtrak have a policy on allowing intoxicated persons to board? i have seen a lot of alcohol abuse on amtrak and am bothered by it. it is a rare journey in the ppc where i haven't seen one passenger or a group obviously drunk and interferring with my and my kids experience. i suppose amtrak makes a fair amount off of booze sales but i would not mind an alcohol ban or at least "no public consumption" on trains. not going to happen but considering smoking used to be allowed nearly anywhere on trains and is now banned, who knows?

Puh-lease. Instead of banning it, like we do everything else, how about we just install a "reasonable and prudent" law like we should be doing with everything else?

Fact of the matter is, me happily sipping a martini with my lunch doesn't interfere with other peoples experience on the train. It should not be banned. A guy ****-drunk raving like a lunatic should be thrown off the train. The crime isn't in his consumption of alcohol- there is nothing wrong with that. His crime is in being irresponsible. Drunk is not an excuse for being irresponsible. You chose to be responsible in how much alcohol you imbibe. And that is the truth.

Well said, GML.

 

[sunchaser]

Don't public intoxication laws apply to the train too?

I know that if you are on a bus here & you are clearly drunk, they will put you off the bus.

I know the cabs here advertise that a cab fare as cheaper than a DUI.

I'm surprised that the pair were allowed on the train.

Maybe someone did not notice as they boarded? :blink: :huh:

If you drink on the train, you need to remember you are in a public place, not a bar, & behave appropriately. :mellow:

If you choose to get drunk & get out of hand, expect to be removed from the train!

Otherwise, drink in your roomette/bedroom, and sleep it off.