Amtrak engineer faces new charges

8 people died in 2015 derailment

PHILADELPHIA — The state’s top prosecutor on Friday charged a speeding Amtrak engineer with causing a catastrophe, involuntary manslaughter and other crimes in a deadly 2015 derailment that came after he accelerated to 106 mph on a 50 mph curve.

Prosecutors said they were in talks with engineer Brandon Bostian’s attorney to have him surrender on the charges.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro expanded on charges a Philadelphia judge approved a day earlier. The unusual judge’s order came after the family of a woman killed in the crash sought a private criminal complaint when city prosecutors declined to press charges as Friday’s twoyear deadline approached.

The judge had signed off on two misdemeanor charges over Rachel Jacobs’ death in the May 12, 2015, derailment. Shapiro approved a felony charge of risking or causing a catastrophe and a string of misdemeanors, including eight counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment.

Lawyer Thomas R. Kline, who had sought the private complaint on the Jacobs family’s behalf, said the charges wouldn’t have happened “had a courageous family, the Jacobs family, not stood up against the decision of a local prosecutor not to press charges.”

The crash killed eight people and injured about 200 others.

The criminal case is sure to bring new scrutiny to the National Transportation Safety Board finding that Bostian had lost “situational awareness” on the curve in North Philadelphia. The speed limit climbs from 50 mph to 110 mph about a mile and a half after the curve.

The NTSB said it found no evidence that Bostian was impaired or using a cellphone.