(Newswire.net — October 13, 2014) — Derek Skyler Brux, a utility coal operator for Rail Link, was charged Friday with destruction of property, obstruction or removal of railroad track or fixtures and unauthorized and reckless driving, stealing a train from North Antelope Rochelle mine and driving it south 13 miles before crashing it into another train.
Allegedly, Brux became upset about his supervisor’s response to working conditions when he unhooked some cars and drove the locomotive around what is described as a “loop” at the site and “pretty much squashed the ‘s..t’ outta their scales,” he said, according to the affidavit.
Brux then dared his supervisor asking her if she wanted to play chicken. When she didn’t, he called the rail dispatch, alerting that he was going south onto the main rail line.
When asked how fast he was going, Brux said he estimated he was going not more than 70 mph for about 15 minutes before plowing into another train.
According to the affidavit, workers from Peabody Energy Corp. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC. attempted to stop and board the locomotive between rail mile markers 53 and 58 but were unsuccessful.
Brux told deputies he blew his horn while passing to alert many workers at the site, but when asked if he scared the workers Brux said, “They were probably ‘s..t’ scared. They probably ‘s..t’ themselves. Whatever.”
During the ride, Rail Link employees tried contacting Brux on his employee phone, but he said he was “not an Apple fan” and smashed the phone, Brux told investigators.
Brux deliberately crashed the train into another, then backed up and hit it again. “I wanted to see what it was like to hit something, so I hit it,” he said, according to the affidavit.
When finally apprehended by police, Brux said he was having a bad day and trying to prove a point.
The total cost of the damages is not yet known.