Transit officials were investigating another instance of subway theft Thursday, after a train operator in a Bronx subway yard found a No. 5 train had been moved without permission, the Daily News has learned.
The train, initially due to depart from the Unionport Yard in Van Nest at 6:43 a.m. Thursday morning, was found with its emergency brakes on, apparently having run over an emergency trip-stop overnight.
A transit source familiar with the incident said authorities suspected someone had broken into the train overnight and taken it for a very short joyride, likely limited to one track in the yard.
A video posted to Instagram and reviewed by The News shows what appears to be the view from the control cab of a subway train moving slowly on snowy tracks in a yard. A bright yellow trip-stop can be seen on the tracks below the train.
As the trip-stop disappears from view, a boy’s voice can be heard saying, “You went over.” The hiss of an air brake can be heard as the train comes to a stop, and another boy’s voice says, “Time to go,” before the person holding the camera opens the cab door and jumps out of the train.
The incident comes less than three weeks after a squad of teens took over a pair of R trains parked on a layup track in Brooklyn. That crew, as first reported by The News, managed to take the trains out on a high-speed joyride along express tracks in Brooklyn. Three teens have been busted so far in connection with that earlier train thievery.