By Caleb Lunetta & Jim Holt
Sheriff’s deputies arrested a suspect on the Antelope Valley Metrolink line who was accused of pulling out a knife on a woman passenger Friday afternoon in Canyon Country.
The suspect, whose identity has not yet been released, allegedly pulled the knife on a woman shortly after 3 p.m., according to Lt. Abi Sahile of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau.
“(The suspect) brandished a knife at passengers on the train and also some (Metrolink) employees,” said Sahile. “The train pulled into the Via Princessa Metrolink Station, where deputies were waiting for him.”
“The suspect pulled out a knife and threatened a passenger with the knife,” said Sgt. Frank Rothe, of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
“He threatened her with the knife and threatened to stab her with the knife,” he said.
Rothe noted that the victim, the witnesses and the suspect are all strangers to each other.
At least 10 deputies waited at the Metrolink station, and when two Metrolink employees got off the train, they described the suspect as “just a combative passenger,” with another official, who also was not authorized to speak to the media, adding: “No one was injured.”
The suspect was then taken into custody without incident, according to Sahile.
The train reportedly broke down on its way from Lancaster, leaving passengers upset and grumbling their disappointment as they left train 216. Another train was able to push the broken-down train, along with the suspect, to the Via Princessa station, according to officials at the station.
The incident occurred on the AV Line 216 to Los Angeles, and all train traffic was temporarily stopped in order for deputies to conduct an investigation, Sahile said.
