CLEARFIELD -- A Roy woman is angry about UTA's response after she encountered a man claiming to have a gun on the FrontRunner commuter train.
On July 9 at 3:48 p.m., Utah Transit Authority dispatchers received a call from a women who claimed there was an inebriated man on the train making threats toward passengers and saying he had a gun.
The woman identified herself to the Standard-Examiner only as Robbie because she did not want the man to know her identity.
She said she boarded FrontRunner at the Roy Station, at 2675 Sandridge Drive, and the man boarded a few minutes later at the Clearfield Station, at 1275 South State Street.
The women said the man got on the train with a backpack, a blue bag, and an open container of alcohol.
After a series of inappropriate sexual remarks to a women on the train and a rant about Ryan Seacrest, the man threatened rail riders and said he had a gun, according to the women.
"He was beyond drunk," the women said. "First he made some inappropriate comments to a young women on the train, then he started talking about going after Ryan Seacrest and that if anyone tried to stop him he had a gun and he'd use it."
The woman said she reluctantly called the UTA police, fearful that the man would see her.
"I was telling the dispatcher what was happening in a very cryptic manner because I didn't want him to know I was calling the police," she said. "I was terrified."
UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter confirmed that the women had made the call to UTA police and told dispatchers the man was making threats involving a gun.
Carpenter said the man was apprehended by several UTA police officers at the Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub, also FrontRunner's last stop.
The man did not have a gun and was not charged with anything criminal, although he was cited for not having valid fare.
The Roy woman, who would not identify herself to UTA police, said she thought UTA's response wasn't fast enough.
"I just don't know why it took them so long," she said. "I understand if UTA police couldn't get there, but you'd think they could have called another police force to step in."
Carpenter said UTA police acted appropriately considering the circumstances.
The woman's call was made just as the train left the Farmington station and with the next stop in Woods Cross less than eight minutes away, the Salt Lake City hub was the only logical choice for officers to respond.
"Basically, Salt Lake was the nearest intercept point," Carpenter said. "But we did dispatch an officer one minute after she called."
Both Carpenter and the woman say the man never brandished any weapon.
Carpenter said UTA's services are safe and the agency does have a working relationship with other police forces along the FrontRunner corridor.
Several other people were on the train at the time of the incident, but no other emergency calls were made.
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