Man gets 5 years for brandishing knife on train

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A federal judge has sentenced an Oregon man to five years in prison for brandishing a knife on an Amtrak train passing through Wisconsin. U.S. District Judge William Conley sentenced 32-year-old Timothy Thomas of Portland on Thursday.

Thomas pleaded guilty in March to intentionally interfering with a train conductor. According to prosecutors, passengers on an Amtrak train passing through Monroe County in November 2020 complained that Thomas was threatening people and banging on seats.

When the conductor confronted him he pulled out an 8-inch knife and began stabbing it toward the conductor. The engineer stopped the train and police arrived to take Thomas into custody.