State Police Arrest Four In Theft of Railroad Track Components

WOODBINE — State Police have arrested four men suspected of removing railroad spikes and plates from a five-mile stretch of Cape May Seashore Line track between Woodbine and Tuckahoe and selling the items to a scrap dealer.
Trooper Timothy MacNeir and Trooper David Leo completed their investigation of the theft and criminal mischief on the tracks. Damage to wooden railroad ties were estimated to be in excess of $16,000 and stolen steel plates and spikes were valued at $8,000 according to State Police spokesman, Sgt. Steve Jones.
Checks conducted at local scrap yards led to the discovery of suspects and as a result the following were arrested: Richard Jargowski III, 25, of Belleplain, Aristides Samot, 24, of Woodbine, Ronald Gheysens, 35, of Woodbine, and David Burnett, 24 of Upper Township.
Investigation showed all four suspects were directly involved in taking the items from the railroad tracks including removing the items from under railcars sitting on the track, said Jones. They were charged with theft, fencing, criminal mischief and conspiracy and released pending a court date, he said.
Detective Christian Eskridge assisted in the investigation.
Jones said some of the stolen railroad track parts were recovered. He said the amount of money the four suspects received from scrap yards was insignificant to the actual replacement cost of the items.
Cape May Seashore Lines President Tony Macrie told the Herald damaging railroad tracks is a federal offense. The tracks are owned by New Jersey Transit and leased by Cape May Seashore Lines, he said.
Macrie said removal of the track securing parts could have caused a derailment resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to railroad equipment and possibly lost lives. He said the railroad would inventory what State Police recovered and begin making repairs.
Macrie said he discovered track components missing while conducting a track inspection.