Stranded SUV disrupts train service

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This SUV got stuck on Metro North train tracks Thursday morning and disrupted service. Nobody was injured. –CONTRIBUTED
This SUV got stuck on Metro North train tracks Thursday morning and disrupted service. Nobody was injured. –CONTRIBUTED

NAUGATUCK — Metro-North train service on the Waterbury-to-Bridgeport line was disrupted briefly Thursday morning after someone drove a sport utility vehicle onto the train tracks in Naugatuck.

At 3:32 a.m., Naugatuck police assisted Metro Transit Authority police in locating a Jeep Grand Cherokee on the tracks near the old Uniroyal Chemical Co. on Elm Street, Naugatuck police said.

The SUV was in a difficult position. Its back wheels were buried deep in dirt and its front wheels appeared to be in poor condition following the incident. MTA was able to remove the vehicle from the tracks with a crane but workers were unable to remove the SUV from the area near the train tracks, Naugatuck police said. MTA officials were expected to move the SUV with a large boom truck late Thursday, police said.

Metro-North sent buses to pick up passengers in Waterbury and Naugatuck and bring them to Beacon Falls until 8:45 a.m., police said.

The incident was investigated by the MTA Police. The driver of the vehicle, Daniel J. Halligan, 32, whose address was not immediately available, told MTA Police that he had insomnia the night before and must have been driving while sleeping, according to MTA police.

Halligan was issued a summons to appear in court, according to Marjorie Anders, a Metro-North spokeswoman. Nobody was injured during the incident.