Eastern Railroad Discussion > Pope Lick 'monster' survivor now faces felony

"Railroad officials have brought a felony charge against the Ohio tourist who saw his girlfriend fall to her death from a train trestle during their search for the mythical Pope Lick monster."
It sounds like NS is playing hardball to discourage people from trespassing on this trestle again. A sad and tragic situation for all invlolved.
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2016/05/27/pope-lick-monster-survivor-now-faces-felony/85028204/

""He said he has been seeking a career as a corrections officer, but he believes that would be torpedoed by a felony conviction."

- Don't think he has to worry about the felony, he couldn't follow simple laws to begin with. May want to choose another career path, not a track.

Certainly showed poor judgement.  Looking for a monster seems to be an odd way to get a girl out on a trestle.

They can charge him with a felony, doesn't mean it's going to stick.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Certainly showed poor judgement.  Looking for a
> monster seems to be an odd way to get a girl out
> on a trestle.

Some girls like a monster.... ahem.

There is another story at WDRB.com.  

The guy sort of says he's been through enough, loosing his girlfriend, and we often feel that way when someone does something stupid or illegal and then someone is hurt or killed.  Still, because of their action, some one was hurt or in this case with NS, suffered a financial loss.   As long as people keep feeling sorry for the law breaker, these things will continue to happen.  I know it sounds hard hearted but maybe if laws were enforced, there would be less of this.  In most cases the trespasser doesn't cause any losses.  They just put their self in danger and the police or someone has to go run them off.  After that it becomes a real expense to charge them and follow through with the process.  A week later they are doing the same thing again.

We have a high profile case here in Louisville about two teens that were killed.  The mother talked to the kids sometime on Saturday.  The boys were killed on Sunday.  They didn't return home for school on Monday or Tuesday and were listed as "unidentified" by the police.  A teacher recognized that the had missed school for two days and saw their sketch on TV and identified them for the police.  The mother never knew where they were, never called the police, while the boys had not been seen for over 60 hours.  She lost her two sons but maybe she should be charged with neglect.  

If the laws are not enforced, no one is going to obey them.  In the Pope Lick case, I hope it sticks.

John
 

People complain when police enforce the laws and issue summonses. People complain when guys are convicted, jailed, released, and arrested again within 48 hours. People complain when good boys from the neighborhood are arrested with a pound of dope. There was a guy arrested for a stabbing in NYC last week who had 52  52  52 prior arrests.  Three times, and you're in for hard labor, I say.

People like to complain, but won't demand that judges throw the book at career criminals

Maybe the Train crew should sue the trespassers for emotional stress. Many times the crew is totally forgotten about.

Perfectly stated!

turntable Wrote:
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> ""He said he has been seeking a career as a
> corrections officer, but he believes that would be
> torpedoed by a felony conviction."
>
> - Don't think he has to worry about the felony, he
> couldn't follow simple laws to begin with. May
> want to choose another career path, not a track.

JOHNY5ALIVE Wrote:
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> Maybe the Train crew should sue the trespassers
> for emotional stress. Many times the crew is
> totally forgotten about.


After listening firsthand to the crew on the radio when this happened live I have to second your statement. Too bad it will never reach a jury vote.

And this afternoon Sunday 5/29/16, NS special agents were dispatched to this bridge AGAIN with two trespassers reported out on the bridge.  

Rathole Wrote:
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> And this afternoon Sunday 5/29/16, NS special
> agents were dispatched to this bridge AGAIN with
> two trespassers reported out on the bridge.  

Good for NS

If you have an "attractive nuisance" like the bridge, you need to secure it. That's a pretty basic element in liability management.

Now, they have to assure there's a conviction, and there's jail time. That gets the word out real fast.  Just giving the malefactor a hug, and kumbaya, and asking him not to do it again sometimes falls short of achieving deterrence.

Is is IMPOSSIBLE to secure the bridge without posting guards 24 hours a day.  The bridge is well marked with signs.  Please tell me how you would propose to "secure" the bridge.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rathole Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > And this afternoon Sunday 5/29/16, NS special
> > agents were dispatched to this bridge AGAIN
> with
> > two trespassers reported out on the
> bridge.  
>
> Good for NS
>
> If you have an "attractive nuisance" like the
> bridge, you need to secure it. That's a pretty
> basic element in liability management.
>
> Now, they have to assure there's a conviction, and
> there's jail time. That gets the word out real
> fast.  Just giving the malefactor a hug, and
> kumbaya, and asking him not to do it again
> sometimes falls short of achieving deterrence.

People who continue to spread idiotic foklore like the Pope Lick Monster in the 21st Century should be charged as well. Anything that entices someone to tresspass on railroad property over a stupid monster who isn't real should be considered a security threat to the railroad industry and this needs to be pushed through Operation Lifesaver! That also should go for these ignoramous photographers who do High School Senior Photoshoots on railroad right-of-way! There is no sesne in any of it. Railfan from a safe distance and the railroad will provide hours of fun. Get in a train's way, you become morge meat! Crude? YES, but it gets the point across!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/16 21:01 by milepost72.

Rathole Wrote:
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> Is is IMPOSSIBLE to secure the bridge without
> posting guards 24 hours a day.  The bridge is
> well marked with signs.  Please tell me how you
> would propose to "secure" the bridge.
>

It's a basic principle of liability management that you have to secure an attractive nuisance. Every pool owner, etc knows that. Ths bridge has become an attractive nuisance. People know about it, and there's a spooky attraction to it.

By throwing the book at violators, every last one of them, the company can reduce the attractiveness of going out on the bridge. Fine them, give them some jail time, etc. But to do that, you need to convince judges this is serious business, put your cops on it, and get the local cops to enforce the laws already on the books.  It's not rocket science.


(NJ had a similar problem with an abandoned mental hospital. Underground tunnels, abandoned wards, suicide floor, solitary confiment, rotted away floors and stairs, etc.  Extraordinarily attactive to kids.

The cops kept an eye on the place, and towed cars ($300) parked anywhere near the posted site. Grabbed the kids for trespassing, and possession of alcohol/drugs by a minor in some cases. The judge convicted and fined them, in the thousands for repeat violators.  Word got out unbelievably fast. The problem vanished.

Several buildings have been demolished, the remainder are scheduled to go in 2017)