DSP News Release: Thursday, February 12, 2009- This Comedy of Errors was Not Funny

Location of Incident: Blackbird Forest Road in the area of the railroad crossing and also in the area of Blackbird Greenspring Road 

Date and Time of Occurrence: Thursday, February 12, 2009- 4:30 a.m.

Suspect(s):  Jason M. Cunningham, 24, of Black Stallion Road in Clayton

Resume: Early this morning, Troopers were called for the report of a CSX train which had struck a vehicle in Townsend.  Officers arrived on the scene and located a dirty 1994 Dodge pickup which sustained significant from the impact. 

While on the scene, a subject later identified as Jason Cunningham, arrived on the scene on his ATV.  When officers inquired as to why he was there he explained what turned out to be a strange sequence of events. 

At about 4:30 this morning, Jason left his some on Black Stallion Road in his unregistered and uninsured Dodge pickup.  He was traveling northbound on Blackbird Forest Road when he thought it would be a good idea to go ‘off-roading.’  He steered his truck off of the east side of the roadway and into a field.  After romping about for a bit, Cunningham became disoriented and was unaware as to his exact location.  He traveled up a berm and lost control of his truck at which time he landed on the railroad tracks. 

Cunningham tried for several minutes to get his truck off of the tracks, but he was unable to do so. He then left his vehicle and proceeded home.  In the meantime, a CSX train was traveling southbound when it struck the truck. 

Why was Cunningham on the ATV? He was planning on making an attempt to pull the truck off of the tracks with his four-wheeler. 

Officers took Cunningham into custody. His truck and his ATV were both towed from the scene.  He was transported back to Troop 9 where he was formally charged with the following offenses: Reckless Endangering 2^nd (misdemeanor), Operation of an Unregistered Motor Vehicle (traffic offense), Driving While Revoked (traffic offense), Operating an Off Highway Vehicle on Private Property (traffic offense), Operating an Unregistered Off Highway Vehicle (traffic offense) and Criminal Trespass 3^rd (violation). Bail information was not available at the time of this release.

Jason Cunningham