A light-rail operator ran a stop signal and killed the driver of a passing car in St. Paul last July, Metro Transit said, but prosecutors say a "hole" in state law prevents them from filing charges.
Documents released by Metro Transit on Friday show the agency found Abdellatif El Maarouf at fault for the fatal crash on University Avenue at Eustis Street, which killed 29-year-old Nicholas Westlake in his car. An investigation found El Maarouf had disregarded a rail stop signal at the intersection. He's still employed by Metro Transit, but he no longer operates buses or trains.
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office declined in February to pursue a charge of criminal vehicular operation because they could not prove El Maarouf's conduct met the standard of gross negligence. In a letter to Metro Transit, prosecutors said El Maarouf sounded his horn and was not speeding, drunk or on a cellphone.
"El Maarouf's driving conduct is that of anyone who misses a red light and mistakenly enters an intersection against the light," the prosecutors' letter said.
According to the letter, El Maarouf told officers at the scene he had the right of way, but this was contradicted by video.
But prosecutors in St. Paul said they could not charge El Maarouf with a lesser violation, such as careless driving, because trains are not considered "vehicles" under the traffic code. St. Paul City Attorney Lyndsey Olson said the incident revealed "a hole" in state law.
"The result in this situation despite a fatality, is that because gross negligence was not present, there simply were not other options for charging accidental, negligent, or careless conduct of a light rail train," Olson said in an e-mail.
The exemption for trains dates back to the origins of the state's traffic laws in the 1920s. Olson said there is a separate law governing rail safety, but it did not apply in this circumstance because it applies to "intentional violations of duty."
