Arlington Man Sentenced for Attempting to Disable Railroad Equipment

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Allan J. Love, Jr., 50, of Arlington, Nebraska, was sentenced on January 31, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for attempting to disable railroad equipment. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Love to 12 months’ and 1 day imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Love’s release from prison, he will begin a 2-year term of supervised release.

On September 3, 2019, west of the 16th Street railroad crossing in Blair, Nebraska, a Union Pacific Railroad track maintenance worker discovered an approximately 6-foot-long green metal pipe lodged in the space between the railroad track switch bar and rail, making it impossible to fully move the switch into position.

Through investigation and law enforcement contacts with Love, law enforcement seized a green metal pipe found in Love’s pickup truck on April 30, 2020.  Forensics performed on the green pipe found lodged in the railroad track and the green pipe found in Love’s truck determined the paints used on both pipes were indistinguishable in color, texture, and chemical composition.  A metallurgy examination of the pipes determined that both were sections of welded, low-carbon steel tube with similar outer diameter, wall thickness, and weld manufacturing features.

Law enforcement also executed a search warrant on Love’s Google account.  Within the Google account law enforcement found a photo taken on July 20, 2019, of the 16th Street railroad crossing in Blair showing the stretch of railroad track where the green pipe was found.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.