Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is looking to file new charges against the engineer behind a 2015 deadly Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia. Originally charges against Brandon Bostian were thrown out by a judge and not pursed by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office because the evidence suggested derailment was accidental.
A Philadelphia judge scheduled arguments for February in an appeal by the Pennsylvania attorney general to reinstate criminal charges against the engineer in the deadly 2015 Amtrak 188 derailment.
Eight people died and hundreds of other passengers were injured when an Amtrak train derailed just north of 30th Street Station. The train was traveling at more than 100 miles an hour in a 50 mile-an-hour zone.
A judge previously ruled that involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerman charges against the train's engineer, Brandon Bostian, be dismissed. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board ruled that Bostian was distracted by radio traffic and lost his bearings.
The new hearing will be Feb. 6. Attorneys for the state and Bostian will present arguments then.
The attorney general's office appealed the ruling after the Philadelphia district attorney's office declined.
A civil lawsuit filed by one of the people killed was dismissed by another judge in September on the grounds that the crash was accidental.
