Amtrak Driver Not Guilty In Deadly 2015 Philadelphia Derailment

Philadelphia PA

04 March, 2022

3:07 PM

Description

PHILADELPHIA — The Amtrak driver who was charged after a deadly 2015 derailment in Philadelphia was found not guilty by a jury Friday. The jury Friday found Brandon Bostian, 38, not guilty on charges of causing a catastrophe, eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, and 244 counts of recklessly endangering another person, according to court records Bostian was charged in connection with a 2015 incident in North Philadelphia. The crash occurred on May 12, 2015, at Frankford Junction. Eight people died and about 200 others were hurt. In 2017, Judge Thomas F. Gehret dismissed the charges against Bostian, but then in 2018 Common Pleas Court Judge Kathryn Lewis overturned Gehret's decision. Gehret said the case lacked evidence for the charges, but Lewis disagreed. She said sufficient evidence did exist to show Bostian acted with criminal intent. An investigation determined that Bostian lost track of where he was while operating the train, which was headed from Washington D.C. to New York City, and mistakenly increased the train's speed to 106 miles an hour heading into a turn with a speed limit of 50 miles per hour. The train flipped over onto its side near Frankford Junction.