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Engineer crashes train near hospital ship in Los Angeles

This aerial image taken from video provided by KABC-TV shows a Pacific Harbor Line train that derailed Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at the Port of Los Angeles after running through the end of the track and crashing through barriers, finally coming to rest about 250 yards from the docked U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Mercy. The train engineer intentionally drove the speeding locomotive off a track at the Port of Los Angeles because he was suspicious about the presence of a Navy hospital ship docked there amid the coronavirus crisis. (KABC-TV via AP)
This aerial image taken from video provided by KABC-TV shows a Pacific Harbor Line train that derailed Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at the Port of Los Angeles after running through the end of the track and crashing through barriers, finally coming to rest about 250 yards from the docked U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Mercy. The train engineer intentionally drove the speeding locomotive off a track at the Port of Los Angeles because he was suspicious about the presence of a Navy hospital ship docked there amid the coronavirus crisis. (KABC-TV via AP) This aerial image taken from video provided by KABC-TV shows a Pacific Harbor Line train that derailed Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at the Port of Los Angeles after running through the end of the track and crashing through barriers, finally coming to rest about 250 yards from the docked U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Mercy. The train engineer intentionally drove the speeding locomotive off a track at the Port of Los Angeles because he was suspicious about the presence of a Navy hospital ship docked there amid the coronavirus crisis. (KABC-TV via AP)

By Mihir Zaveri / New York Times News Service 4 min read

The U.S. Naval Ship Mercy, a hospital ship, arrived at the Port of Los Angeles on Friday to bolster a health care system that officials worry could be overwhelmed by a surge in coronavirus patients.

One train operator and engineer who worked at the port grew suspicious, he later told authorities, according to an affidavit by an FBI special agent, Douglas Swain.

The engineer, Eduardo Moreno, told investigators that he wondered if the ship had some unstated purpose, or something to do with a government takeover, one of several baseless conspiracy theories emerging about the government’s handling of the outbreak.

Those unfounded suspicions bubbled over Tuesday when Moreno, at the end of his shift, sent a train off its tracks at full speed and crashed it some 250 yards away from the Mercy, according to prosecutors and Moreno’s statements recorded in the affidavit.

No one was injured in the crash and the Mercy was not damaged. Moreno, 44, was charged with one count of train wrecking, according to a statement released Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.