Repo Man Nearly Hit While Driving ATV on Windsor Train Tracks

Windsor -- Driving an ATV north on the railroad tracks in Windsor yesterday morning, Jonathan Balben avoided a traffic violation, but wound up being cited for trespassing -- and nearly got himself killed in a head-on crash with a southbound Amtrak train.

Police said Balben, an employee of Burlington-based Majestic Repossession & Transportation Corp., was driving the all-terrain vehicle that he had repossessed in Charlestown to a company truck in Windsor.

Police suspect he chose not to take the highway because ATVs are illegal in street traffic.

Following the rail bed, Balben suddenly heard an unwelcome sound ahead of him.

The 23-year-old bounded away from the ATV just before it was totaled by the oncoming train.

Balben, of Keene, N.H., was cited for trespassing on railroad property, a misdemeanor that usually carries a fine. The incident took place near Windsor's wastewater treatment plant.

"The position that he found himself in, he could not get the ATV off the tracks in time to avoid the train, totally wrecking the ATV," said Windsor Police Chief Stephen Soares. "There was no competition between the two vehicles."

The Washington-bound Amtrak Vermonter was undamaged in the incident, and no passenger injuries were reported, but the train was delayed for an hour.

Soares said driving the ATV on public roads "would have been a violation of motor vehicle law."

Officer Jason Beraldi, who is investigating the incident, said Balben intended to meet another Majestic employee in Windsor, where the ATV was supposed to have been loaded onto a flatbed truck and transported to another location.

A representative from Majestic Repossession had no comment yesterday. Balben did not respond to a message left at a Keene phone listing.

Beraldi did not know whether Balben had followed the tracks all the way from Charlestown.

David Hough, who runs the Barre, Vt., repossession company Eye on Vermont Investigative and Recovery Services, found it troubling that an employee would have driven a repossessed vehicle on railroad tracks.

"They should have definitely had a truck come and get it," said Hough. "They risked lives and violated laws."

Soares said that it's not uncommon for people to drive ATVs and dirt bikes on railroad tracks.

"It obviously needs to be made perfectly clear to these people that it is trespassing," he said.

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Source: http://www.vnews.com/12022009/12022009.htm

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