Man Who Stopped Amtrak Train In Benton County Identified

It was a wild scene in Finley yesterday as an Amtrak train came to a grinding halt making the ride longer (and harrowing) for all passengers on board.

The situation began when a man began acting in a manner that forced the Amtrak engineer to stop the train's journey near the intersection of Piert Rd and Riek Rd, along Chemical Dive (SR 397)  in Finley.

A call was placed asking for Benton County Sheriff Deputies to respond to the scene.  When Benton County's finest arrived, they encountered a man who, according to details released, was behaving in a "volatile and manic" manner.

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The Arrest

Once deputies made contact with the human cause of the commotion, they discovered the passenger not only was under the influence of a foreign substance, but that he had a "substantial" amount of drugs on his person.

All of this resulted in the man being detained and taken into custody.  Instead of going directly to the Benton County Jail he was checked by medics then cleared for release at an area hospital.

Once released the man was then given a 6 x 12 in the Benton County Jail and charged with Delaying/Obstructing a Train (a misdemeanor) as well as possession of narcotics.  The man has been identified as 28-year-old Gustavo Gilbert Jr.  He is being held on $1,500 bail.

Normally in this situation Amtrak Police (yes, Amtrak as a federal agency has their own police) would take charge of the situation.  A representative with the BCSO told me that because of how late the incident happened (after 9:30pm) and because the only have one Amtrak officer for the region, Gilbert was booked in to the Benton County Jail to await a hearing.