CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A neighborhood in Chesapeake said a local popular hangout among teens has always been dangerous, and recently, it turned deadly.
Neighbors living close to Back Road and Mount Pleasant said that a train trestle, owned by Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad, is a spot where teens have spent several summers.
"There's a little cove right beside it," explained neighbor Glen Edwards. "You have a lot of kids during summertime who want to go back there and hang out and jump and mark graffiti."
On Sunday night, Chesapeake police officers said they received a call from witnesses concerning an accident at the train trestle. Police said one teen had jumped in the water, hit his head and drowned.
Mom Heide Wilson, who has two kids of her own, says this tragedy has sparked an important conversation.
"I've already had a talk with my two boys about the dangers of that trestle, to stay away and now they see it with the way this ended," said Wilson.
Neighbors like Wilson and Edwards said access to the trestle is very easy. Teens can walk the train tracks that lead to the water and railroad bridge.
Though it is not just the tracks that create access. The path to the trestle is easy to get to through some people's properties, which is why neighbors opted for a gate, though it has not done much.
"Two years ago, we were able to get the railroad to put the gate there and lock it so it would stop the traffic of people who shouldn't be going back there because it's private property," explained Edwards. "That has stopped, but kids will park out here in this neighborhood, or they park a ways away and walk down the train track to get there."
Edwards said it is rare that he spots it, but when he does, he gives the young trespassers a verbal warning.
"I usually tell them, 'hey, if you go back there, the police are going to get called and you don't know what you are jumping into in that water,'" explained Edwards.
Unfortunately, physical, verbal and written barriers have not stopped the kids, and the trestle is needed because it is an easement for the railroad company to use to lower the trestle for the train when necessary.
While tragic and senseless, parents in the neighborhood said they hope teenagers will learn from this experience and understand that being young does not mean you are invincible.
