On March 31st, a train engineer was arrested for driving a train off the tracks and attempting to ram it into the USNS Mercy, a hospital ship docked in the port of Los Angeles.
The engineer, 44 year-old Eduardo "Eddie" Moreno, later told the FBI that he was trying to crash into the ship, which has been used to hold regular patients from surrounding hospitals while they deal with an influx of COVID-19 patients, because he believed the ship was not "what they say it's for."
As bizarre as it sounds, this was NOT an early April Fools prank. Or if it was, it's the worst prank ever.
While Moreno did drive the train straight off the end of the tracks, going over some asphalt and tearing through two fences, he did not reach or damage the ship.
Video below shows the aftermath of the crash, while authorities have said that another unreleased video shows Moreno wielding a lit torch inside the train cabin during the crash.
When Moreno was arrested, he reportedly gave federal agents a bunch of confusing statements. According to an arrest affidavit, Moreno ended up trying to explain his actions as an attempt to expose a vague government conspiracy:
“You only get this chance once. The whole world is watching. I had to. People don’t know what’s going on here. Now they will.”
While clearly no one knows what the hell he was talking about, the one thing that is clear is that it is possible to drive a train without tracks underneath it (at least for a short distance).
Moreno is being charged with "train wrecking," which is a federal crime that can carry up to a 20 year sentence.
Since the incident, Moreno's wife reportedly started a GoFundMe to raise money for their family, writing: "We need all the help we can get...Eddie is not hurt physically but isn’t with us at this time...All the money raised will be to help him and us to get through this."
By the same report, Moreno's brother took to Facebook to express himself: "My brother and his fam are in need of help if you know my brother you’d know what a good hearted person and has fallen into some difficult times what ever you can give plz anything will help.”
While we wait to see how the case against Moreno develops, we can only hope no one in Hollywood is inspired to make some Speed sequel that involves actually crashing a train into a boat.
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