By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
GENEVA — The Geneva man who caused police to shut down CSX Railroad to traffic late Tuesday night has been charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct, Western County Court records show.
Police arrested Joseph Bohnic, 46, at 10:47 p.m., after two witnesses at the Rae Ann Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center thought they saw a man get hit by an oncoming train, police reports show. One witness said a man wearing a white T-shirt was walking west in the middle of the railroad tracks, behind the nursing home.
“The man raised his arms above his head, and the headlight from the train was on his back,” that witness told police.
The train went by, but the witnesses lost sight of the man. Fearing he had been hit by the train, the women called police.
The police dispatcher immediately called CSX and had the railroad halt traffic as Geneva police and firefighters, Northwest Ambulance District personnel and Conrail Police investigated the scene, police reports show. Though officials couldn’t find evidence of anyone having been hit by a train, they did find Bohnic, intoxicated and dressed in a white shirt, hiding in the brush along the railroad tracks, police reports show.
While witnesses also described another male dressed in a blue shirt, police couldn’t find anyone else at the scene. Bohnic, whom police described as “uncooperative,” denied anyone was with him, police reports show.
Bohnic pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges Wednesday and is set for trial on Aug. 5, court records show.
