OAKLAND — A man and woman shut down train service between Oakland and San Francisco on the first day they met. BART police arrested them for interfering with or hindering the operation of a railway. The incident occurred inside a dark tunnel on June 23.
Passenger service on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system was delayed 10 to 15 minutes due to trespassing. BART police responded to a report of a man and woman entering the tunnel together at 9:46 p.m.
The tunnel runs 3.6 miles under San Francisco Bay. Unfortunately for passengers, any delay inside the tunnel affects multiple BART lines in several cities. It is the only way trains can cross the bay.
BART police officers searched the tunnel and located the newly acquainted couple, while train service was halted. They entered the tunnel for unknown reasons, according to a statement released by BART.
Officers arrested the couple inside the dark tunnel, approximately 150 feet away from a train platform. They entered the tunnel from Embarcadero Station the last stop in San Francisco on the way to Oakland.
The couple offered no resistance and the arresting officers learned that they met only a few hours earlier. The man arrested is 36-year-old Christopher James and the woman is 34-year-old Susannah Berran.
Both individuals are from San Francisco. However, BART police identified James as a transient. Besides getting in trouble for trespassing, James was arrested for having suspected methamphetamine in his possession. In addition, he was arrested for two outstanding warrants.
Just one week earlier, James was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon on June 16. Last year, James was arrested three times for assaults with a deadly weapon.
