Mar 18, 2013 2 min read

Police say the sound of a train whistle apparently became too much for a Monongahela woman who allegedly parked her car on the tracks Friday night so it would get hit by a train.

Bridgett H. Dixon, 42, of 307 1/2 Park Ave., was arrested about 11:30 p.m. after Monongahela police found her 2001 Plymouth Neon parked in the middle of the tracks at the Second Street crossing.

Police initially were called to the Sheetz on East Main Street, not far from the crossing, for a report of a woman yelling that she had just gotten her car stuck on the tracks and wanted a clerk to call police.

As police were responding, they saw the car. The driver’s door was open. There were no keys in the ignition. Police said the car didn’t appear to be stuck or disabled, but rather just parked in the middle of the tracks.

Dixon reportedly told the responding officer that she was tired of trains going through town, blowing their whistles, when she is downtown and on the telephone. She allegedly told police that she left the car on the middle of the tracks so the train would hit it and she could find out who was “driving the train,” according to the criminal complaint.

“I guess she was sick and tired of hearing the horn blowing,” police Chief Brian Tempest said Monday. “But she doesn’t even live that close to the tracks. And the whistle doesn’t blow unless the train is coming up on an intersection.”

Tempest said there is one branch of tracks that runs near Dixon’s home, but it hasn’t been used for years. The chief said police have had contact with her in the past, but never regarding complaints about trains.

Dixon was arraigned before District Judge Curtis Thompson on charges of risking a catastrophe, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. She was released from the Washington County jail Saturday afternoon after posting $5,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for March 26 before District Judge Mark Wilson.