A 31-year-old man has been charged with threatening a Caltrain conductor with a firearm at the Redwood City Station on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
Patrick Merrill Harris Jr., of East Palo Alto, was identified as the suspect who was on a train at the station at 2:33 p.m. that day and was not wearing a mask. A conductor approached the passenger to ask for his ticket and to tell him he needed to put on a mask, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. The conductor had also reportedly noticed a “bulge” in the rider’s waistband.
Harris got up to leave the train and warned the conductor he would remember him next time, prosecutors said. As the door closed and the train started to move, Harris allegedly pulled out a black handgun from his waistband, racked the slide and pointed it at the victim before putting it back in his waistband, prosecutors said.
Police were called and Harris was located nearby and found in possession of a loaded magazine in his backpack. An empty ghost handgun was found in a planter box near to where Harris was standing, prosecutors said.
A preliminary hearing in the case was expected to take place today in Redwood City Felony Court. Harris remains in custody on $20,000 bail.
