The text-messaging motorman behind the smashup of two Green Line trolleys didn’t pull his emergency brake until just 8 feet separated the doomed trains, prosecutors said yesterday in announcing the indictment of Aiden Quinn.
A special grand jury investigation found Quinn, 24, of Attleboro, now facing up to three years in prison for gross negligence, was focused on his Motorola cell phone May 8 for at least 600 feet of underground track while traveling 25 mph oblivious to warning lights.
“We don’t know exactly how long it took him to travel from Point A to Point B,” said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley. “Whatever it was, it was far too long to be operating a train without looking.”
Quinn, who was allegedly messaging his girlfriend, didn’t even hit the “send” button before rear-ending the stopped train and pushing it 36 feet, Conley said.
Quinn, who the MBTA fired after the collision that injured 62 passengers and caused $9 million in property damage, is not under arrest, but will be arraigned July 20 in Suffolk Superior Court.
The T and the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the accident on human error. It also prompted the T to ban employees from carrying cell phones.
Attorney Michelle Menken said Quinn is “deeply remorseful” and unable to work due to the wrist he shattered in the crash.
“If there was a lapse of judgment on his part it takes a lot to rise to the level of gross negligence,” she said. “He’s not a criminal.”
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Monday, July 20, 2009
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