Unruly passenger removed from train

Published 5:00 am Friday, October 20, 2006

The northbound Amtrak train made an unscheduled second stop inBrookhaven Thursday afternoon in order to have an unruly passengerremoved.

A 32-year-old Tennessee woman was taken off the train andarrested by the Brookhaven Police Department after she becameunruly and threatened to jump from the moving train, authoritiessaid.

Railroad officials asked for local assistance with the womanafter other passengers boarded the train at the Brookhaven Depotand it departed the station. It was unclear where the woman boardedthe train.

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The northbound train was brought to a halt at the intersectionof Enterprise Street and North Railroad Avenue where officers withthe Brookhaven Police Department and the Lincoln County Sheriff’sDepartment boarded the train.

Shannon Williams Garmon, 32, of 3160 Briarly Lane, Bartlett,Tenn., was taken into custody and charged with public intoxicationand public profanity by BPD, said Police Chief Pap Henderson. Shewas still in the Lincoln County jail this morning.

“We assist in any way we can on something of this nature,”Henderson said.

Capt. Bobby Bell said yesterday that the Memphis-bound Garmonwas being loud with other passengers and was threatening to jumpoff the train while it was traveling at 80 mph.

Amtrak’s Chicago based spokesperson Marc Magliari said hecouldn’t comment on Thursday’s incident, but said procedures are inplace to insure other passengers on the train have a pleasantatmosphere for their trip.

“One of the many jobs a conductor has is making sure there is aproper environment for passengers,” Magliari said.

When an individual becomes insubordinate, the conductor willwarn that passenger. If the bad behavior persists, then a local lawenforcement agency is contacted and the individual is removed atthe first available stop, he said.

Magliari was unsure why the passenger was not removed when thetrain made its scheduled stop at the depot in Brookhaven. He saidAmtrak does not make many unscheduled stops like Thursday’s, butthey do happen occasionally.