Operator in May T crash is indicted

The 24-year-old operator, Aiden Quinn, has become an emblem in the MBTA, and among lawmakers, of the dangers of using cellphones and other messaging devices while operating a vehicle. After the crash, the T initiated the strictest cellphone ban in the country, prohibiting its drivers from carrying any kind of electronic device on a train or bus.

“This driver has an obligation, a moral obligation, a duty really, to protect the passengers that are under his control,’’ Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in an interview after a grand jury handed down the indictment. “They put their lives into his hands.’’

Quinn’s lawyer, Michelle Menken, said the investigation wasted taxpayer dollars “for something that was, at its core, an accident.’’

“Who hasn’t looked away from the wheel to hand their kid a sippy cup or to answer a phone call?’’ Menken said. “It’s hard to get from there to criminal negligence.’’

The rear-end crash, near Government Center, injured 62 passengers and caused $9 million in damage, including the loss of three trolley cars. Investigators determined that Quinn was typing on his cellphone, without looking at the track, while the train traveled for almost 600 feet through a tunnel, at about 25 miles per hour, running a yellow and a red light.

By the time he glanced up and pulled the emergency brake, Green Line car 3612 was just 8 feet from the rear of another trolley stopped on the tracks, the investigation found.

Conley said that Quinn never actually sent the message, but that his admission to authorities, along with supporting evidence that included an examination of his phone, would prove he was negligently distracted.

Twelve witnesses testified before the grand jury, he said.

Though none of the crash injuries was life-threatening, several were significant. Conley’s office said a 28-year-old Lynn woman broke her pelvis and may not walk again. A 19-year-old Salem woman suffered a concussion and broken vertebrae. One victim listed among the injured was five months pregnant, though there was no apparent effect on the pregnancy.

“I can see why, legally, [an indictment] would be the consequence,’’ said Laszlo Panajoth, a passenger in the crash who was not injured. But he added, “I don’t have any hard feelings.’’

To charge Quinn criminally, Conley’s office relied on a statute that is about 100 years old - gross negligence by a person in control of a train - that has been seldom used, if ever, in Massachusetts courts, according to Conley and Menken.

Menken said she may challenge the statute’s applicability in this case.

Conley said it was legally apt, but “I’d welcome an examination here in the 21st century, as to whether or not this charge and the sentencing array is appropriate.’’

Daniel A. Grabauskas, the MBTA general manager, said in a written statement that the indictment “reinforces the importance of our strict, new policy that prohibits bus and train operators from even possessing cellphones while on duty.’’

Stephan MacDougall, the leader of the MBTA Carmen’s union, could not be reached for comment yesterday. MacDougall has said that his union, which represents trolley, train, and bus operators, supports a ban on driver cellphone use, but is challenging the T’s policy because it does not provide a way for drivers to get access to their phones while they are on extensive breaks in remote locations.

Andrew Ryan of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent John Guilfoil contributed to this report. Bierman can be reached at nbierman@globe.com.