SAN DIEGO — Two San Diego-area 18-year-olds have been arrested after allegedly “train surfing” on the top of a Coaster commuter train last week.
KNSD-TV reports the San Diego Sheriff’s Office said on Monday, Jan. 12, that it had arrested Joseph Medina-Rivera of El Cajon and Brad Ellgen of Oceanside after numerous reports from the Del Mar area of the incident. Based on descriptions of the subjects, they were located a few blocks apart in Solana Beach, and admitted riding on atop the train. They were cited for railroad property, a misdemeanor, and released.
Video footage from trackside circulated on line and included in KNSD’s video report shows one subject walking on top of the train while another is lying on the roof. While it appears they might have been shooting a video, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman would not confirm that detail.
Mary Dover, chief of staff for Coaster operator North County Transit district, said the agency would press charges to the full extent of the law and urged people to remember the trains can travel up to 90 mph. “Anybody that thinks this is a good idea … for going viral or for their 15 minutes fame, it’s not worth your life, and it’s not worth potential legal action that we will take,” she told KNSD.
The action mirrors that of “subway surfers” on the New York City Transit system. As of October 2025, at least five deaths were believed to had occurred from subway surfing activity, according to a New York Times report, following six in 2024 and five in 2023.
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