ALEXANDRIA – In an alleged crime straight out of the 1930s, a 23-year-old Mississauga man was arrested August 13 for riding the rails – specifically train surfing a Montreal-bound passenger train.
Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry OPP were called to a stopped eastbound VIA Rail passenger train between Maxville and Alexandria around 3 p.m. Police arrested and charged Alexander Pinto with one count each of mischief (Criminal Code) and entering land on which a rail line is situated (Railway Safety Act.)
Pinto was held in custody and released following a bail hearing on August 15.
Additional charges were sworn to in Barrie following Pinto’s arrest. Details of those charges were not available at publication time.
Pinto is scheduled to next appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Cornwall on September 9. He is also scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Barrie on September 10.
This was the first of two train surfing incident on rail lines in Ontario this past week. An eastbound Canadian National train from Edmonton, travelling to Montreal, stopped west of Brighton on August 16 after an 18-year-old train surfer from Vancouver fell off the freight train. The illegal passenger was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Several youth have reported to have fallen off trains while “train surfing” in the Greater Toronto Area after a recent social media trend posting videos of the illegal activity.
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