National City

A trolley was damaged Wednesday night in National City after two men allegedly attempted to derail it by placing large rocks on the tracks.

Arrested and booked into County Jail on suspicion of attempted train wrecking were Jeffery Conklin, 19, and James Otero, 23. Both are Navy enlisted men; Conklin is a fireman apprentice, and Otero is a petty officer 3rd class, and both were stationed on the replenishment oiler Wabash, National City Police Capt. Bob Milke said.

The trolley was traveling on the northbound tracks about 9:05 p.m. just south of the 8th Street station when the operator spotted the boulders between the rails and attempted emergency-stop procedures, trolley officials said.

The first two cars of the trolley, however, ran over the rocks, which caused an estimated $35,000 damage to the undercarriage of the cars, the officials said.

There were passengers on the trolley at the time of the accident but neither trolley officials nor police knew how many. The operator and one passenger were treated for minor injuries.

The trolley continued to the next station, where the operator assessed the damage and decided it was capable of getting downtown, Langley C. Powell, president and general manager of San Diego Trolley Inc., said.

Witnesses on board the trolley overheard two men boasting about the incident, trolley security officials said. The two men had boarded the trolley at the station after the accident. The passengers informed the trolley operator, who called trolley control center operators, who then notified security officers and the National City police.

National City police and security officers boarded the trolley at 12th and C Streets in downtown San Diego, where witnesses pointed out the two men.