Passenger Trains > Amtrak Trainmaster's Iowa Legal Woes

Tomorrow morning will be Amtrak Trainmaster Dave Torres's court date in Iowa. It is open to the public. The court appearance is just a few minutes walking distance from Amtrak Crew Lodging for those on layover looking for something different to satisfy your Ottumwa, IA tourism needs.

I have followed the State of Iowa Vs. David A. Torres case. Find below a brief summary of the case.

- Was traveling on assignment in Iowa providing supervision for Amtrak when incident happened.
- Refused to leave bar when asked by the owner.
- Refused Field Sobriety Testing.
- Refused breath test.
- Bail was $300.
- Torres contacted crew members to bail him out, but all refused.
- Melissa Torrez drove from Berwyn, IL in the middle of the night to bail him out.
- Attorney Joseph P. Goedken was hired by Torres.
- Pleaded Not Guilty.
- Confidential Deferred Prosecution Agreement was made.
- Next court date is August 8, 2019 at 8:30am.


This is a follow-up from a thread started in January at the following link: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4716445

Two questions:

1) Was he on duty at the time of this incident?

2) Is Melissa Torrez related? I notice her name is spelled differently. Or is that a typo?

Posted from iPhone

PC1974 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> - Torres contacted crew members to bail him out,
> but all refused.

Says a lot doesn't it ?

 

UP Chairman Drew Lewis got DWI'ed (IIRC, in Omaha) years ago. 

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PC1974 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > - Torres contacted crew members to bail him
> out,
> > but all refused.
>
> Says a lot doesn't it ?
>
>  

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PC1974 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > - Torres contacted crew members to bail him
> out,
> > but all refused.
>
> Says a lot doesn't it ?
>
>  

Yup

1) RR Company Officers do not have off time when away from home on assignment. Lay the cell phone by your head when you need some sleep and hope it doesn't go off. That was a misconception in the original thread. It's an expectation off-corridor (East Coast does it their own way).

2) Typo

Thank you for the update.



PC1974 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1) RR Company Officers do not have off time when
> away from home on assignment. Lay the cell phone
> by your head when you need some sleep and hope it
> doesn't go off. That was a misconception in the
> original thread. It's an expectation off-corridor
> (East Coast does it their own way).
>
> 2) Typo

Posted from iPhone

Court appearance is likely to be highly anti-climatic. "Deferred prosecution agreement" usually means court-ordered diversion to a substance abuse program. If he sticks to the program and keeps a clean record for a defined period of time, the charges will be dropped. 

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

brc600 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> UP Chairman Drew Lewis got DWI'ed (IIRC, in Omaha)
> years ago. 
>
> Englewood Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > PC1974 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> >
> > > - Torres contacted crew members to bail him
> > out,
> > > but all refused.
> >
> > Says a lot doesn't it ?
> >
> >  

More than once.

Torres was not charged with DUI in this case. In most jurisdictions even a first offense for DUI is taken very seriously these days.

Sounds like he had a "few too many," refused to leave the bar, became belligerent with the cops who responded, and refused a field sobriety test. Reprehensible behavior, but not the crime of the century either. Unclear what sort of punishment will be (or has been) meted out by the Company.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/19 09:19 by Dcmcrider.

Agree with the analysis.. Trick you need to know is that Amtrak is not uniform in their handling of individuals representing the corporation. Everything from a slap on the wrist to termination. Depends who you are and who you know...

How many Amtrak employees are arrested annually for DUI or are we zeroing on this employee?

Posted from iPhone

With thousands and thousands of people on any given day driving or being in public while under the influence of alcohol or substances, why is this particular case a newsworthy event?

What does any of this have to do with DWI or DUI? If you follow the link to the other thread and read the police report, it says public intoxication. They're two totally different things.

Posted from Android

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

My error Doug.  I apologize 

jst3751 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> With thousands and thousands of people on any
> given day driving or being in public while under
> the influence of alcohol or substances, why is
> this particular case a newsworthy event?


Because the OP has nothing better to do with his retirement than wish ill upon his former employer and spend 24 hours a day worrying about its affairs. He'll be happy to know I still lurk here and pity the awful state of worry he must constantly be in. I've got spurs that jingle jangle jingle...