Brooklyn man, Basilio Hidalgo, charged with DWI after driving half-mile on LIRR tracks

MTA police have arrested a Brooklyn man they say drove his SUV a half-mile on the Long Island Rail Road's tracks between Floral Park and Bellerose, causing significant damage to his car and to the LIRR's infrastructure.

Police said Basilio Hidalgo, 40, drove his black Honda onto the LIRR's tracks near the Elmont-UBS Arena station shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday, then drove east on the tracks.

Photos and videos of the incident shared on social media captured the Honda as it bumpily cruised along the LIRR’s tracks before coming to stop just east of the Bellerose station. Police said the vehicle had front-end damage and its tires caught on fire. The incident also "caused significant damage to the third rail and other track infrastructure," MTA police said in a statement.

Police arrested Hidalgo at the scene and charged him with driving while intoxicated, first-degree reckless endangerment and third-degree criminal trespassing. Hidalgo or an attorney representing him could not immediately be reached for comment. 

The incident caused the railroad to suspend service between Jamaica and Hicksville for several hours. The LIRR, in service alerts sent to customers, attributed the disruptions to "police activity east of Bellerose." LIRR workers, using a hydraulic lift, were able to remove the car from the tracks around 8:30 p.m. and repair damage to the tracks, according to the railroad.

Caught up in the mess was Marvin Kirschenbaum, of Plainview, who was returning from seeing a play in Manhattan with his wife and a friend Sunday evening. When he got off at Jamaica to change trains, he said he found a chaotic scene with few trains running and large crowds of travelers scurrying around looking for information, and a way home.

Upon returning home Sunday night, following two hours of delays, Kirschenbaum said he saw images of the car on what appeared to be an elevated portion of the LIRR’s tracks.

"I’m going, ‘I don’t even understand how that could be. What, did somebody airdrop a car on the tracks?' " Kirschenbaum, 70, said. "That … is scary beyond belief."

MTA police said an investigation into how Hidalgo got his car onto the tracks is "in its early stages."

Full service was restored shortly before 9 p.m., and there were no reported service issues during the Monday morning rush hour.

It’s not the first time a motorist has found himself driving along the LIRR’s right of way. The railroad in 2018 said it had begun to see significant increases in such instances as GPS apps on phones gained in popularity and drivers, misunderstanding dictated directions, unwittingly turned onto the LIRR’s tracks.

In March of that year, a train struck a car that had entered the tracks at a crossing in Mineola, causing extensive damage to the vehicle and the tracks, and hours of delays. Police in that case said the driver misunderstood GPS directions and turned onto the tracks at the Willis Avenue crossing.

The rise in "unauthorized vehicles" on the tracks, as the railroad calls them, led the LIRR to expedite the installation of devices that more clearly identified railroad crossings, including reflective markings.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.