Police stop train after complaints about passenger talking on phone

SalemKatu ^ | May 15, 2011 | John Tierney

[Bed_Zeppelin]

SALEM, Ore. - Salem Police stopped an Amtrak train on Sunday afternoon after reports a woman threatened other passengers when they complained she was speaking too loudly on her cell phone.

Lakeysha Beard of Tigard was charged with disorderly conduct after police said she got into a “verbal altercation” with passengers on the train. The other passengers complained she refused to put down her cell phone, even after train staff made repeated announcements for passengers to not use cell phones, according to police.

When a passenger confronted her about her loud talking, police said Beard got aggressive. She had reportedly been talking non-stop on the phone since getting on the train in Oakland, Calif.

Beard was taken into custody until a family member could come and pick her up.

The train pulled out of the station in Oakland at 10 p.m. the night before, according to Amtrak spokeswoman Verae Graham. Conductors on the train coordinated with police to stop the train at a crossing about two miles from the Salem station. That was around 2 p.m.

The train was the Coast Starlight, which runs between Los Angeles and Seattle.

Graham said Amtrak has no formal policy that bans people from talking on cell phones while the train is moving.

KATU tried to contact Beard for comment but could not reach her.

The train was stopped for about 20 minutes before it continued on to Portland.

[dennisw]

 

Woman feels 'disrespected' after being kicked off train

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By Emily Sinovic KATU News and KATU.com Staff

Lakeysha Beard said she didn't understand what all the fuss was about when she was escorted off an Amtrak train. Police said she yelled at passengers who asked her to stop talking so loudly on her cell phone.

Lakeysha Beard being escorted off an Amtrak train by police.

PORTLAND, Ore. – A woman who got pulled of an Amtrak train by police after passengers complained she was speaking too loudly on a cell phone said she felt “disrespected” by the entire incident.

 

Lakeysha Beard of Tigard was charged with disorderly conduct after police said she got into a “verbal altercation” with train passengers on Sunday. Passengers complained she refused to put down her cell phone and conductors had to stop the train in Salem, where police got involved.

Comments (95)

[Admin Moderator]

Yes, let’s have this out.

NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts.

If you must, then.

From the posting guidelines in the posting dialog box:

NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts.

You've managed to violate all but the profanity prohibition on this thread. So, yeah, asking for the mods to step in and make a ruling should have been unneccesary.

[BluH2o]

Lakeysha Beard ...

Without going further I already know what to expect (profile wise) where this individual is concerned. So predictable.

[Oztrich Boy]

So are they afraid the cell phone is gonna cause Amtrak to lose money?

Talking nonstop from 10PM Saturday to 2PM Sunday. They were probably worried other passengers (who might have liked to catch a few minutes sleep) were going to sue

[I Buried My Guns]

"...Talking on the phone, or more importantly being seen and heard talking on the phone, is central to Amish culture...."

Indeed. It is a way of announcing your importance to the group by displaying rudeness and disrespect (which is a fundamentyal aspect of Amish culture), and letting them know you have much better things to do than interact with them.

It is also a component of their materialism and consumerism, because to have a phone is to say, in Amish, "I have arrived".