BOSTON — The operator of a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority light rail train that rear-ended another train in July, injuring more than 20 people, has been arraigned on two charges of gross negligence in connection with the accident.
WCVB-TV reports Owen Turner, 50, faces charges of gross negligence of a person in control of a train and gross negligence of a person having care of a common carrier.
Turner was arraigned Wednesday and released on his personal recognizance. According to prosecutors, Turner gave answers that were inconsistent and contradicted surveillance video in a series of interviews by transit police.
Turner had been placed on leave after the July 30 incident in which 25 people were injured when the westbound train on the Green Line’s B Branch struck a slower-moving train ahead of it [see “MBTA light rail collision injures 25,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 2, 2021]. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board said the train was traveling at 31 mph when it struck the train moving at 10 mph. An MBTA spokesman said in a statement that the agency “ is taking the steps necessary to end the employment of the individual involved in the collision.”
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