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Man Comes Down From VTA Train After Nearly 12 Hour Standoff

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A 25-year-old man on probation who refused to come down from the top of a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light-rail vehicle in North San Jose for almost twelve hours Thursday has surrendered to authorities.

The suspect, Prunedale resident Kyle Lewis, came down off the top of the train shortly after 1 p.m. and was taken into custody by Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies.

The standoff caused major delays throughout the public transit system.

Transit agency officials are checking the top of the train to make sure everything is OK before they turn the electricity back on, VTA spokeswoman Stacey Hendler Ross said.

It can take up to 30 minutes to power up the lines before service resumes, Hendler Ross said.

The incident started around 1:20 a.m. when the light rail operator saw a man standing in the tracks.

VTA spokeswoman Brandi Childress said the operator, on one of the last trains of the night, was able to stop the train before hitting the man.

At that point, Lewis climbed up the VTA vehicle at North First Street just south of Component Drive, Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. James Jensen said.

The operator then called the VTA operations control center to turn off the electrical wires above that generate 900 volts to stop the man from getting electrocuted as he went up the train, Hendler Ross said.

"It's an extremely dangerous thing for someone to do to climb up the train because of the electrification," she said.

Sheriff's deputies with crisis training immediately responded to the scene and initially spoke with Lewis before a crisis negotiation team arrived, Jensen said.

The team is talking to Lewis from a cherry picker parked next to the train and others are on the platform adjacent to the vehicle, where two ladders were seen propped on the sides.

Lewis had been rambling and spitting at authorities when they first talked to him, but since then he has been more "coherent," Jensen said.

Lewis is shirtless and negotiators gave him a yellow blanket, the sergeant said.

A mental health supervisor from the Santa Clara County Probation Department also came out to scene to speak to Lewis, Jensen said.

Negotiators are working with probation supervisors to learn more about Lewis' background to build "rapport" with him and persuade him to go down, according to Jensen.

"We can't go up there and pull him off the train for his safety and our safety, so we have to wait him out," he said.

There are no signs that Lewis is armed. Investigators do not know if the 25-year-old man is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Jensen said.

Both his probation officer and mental health case manager were at the scene helping with negotiations.

Deputies defended the decision to give him a blanket.

"Its always a smart decision to try to help the person out," said Jensen. "If he's in mental distress, we're trying to help him. We're trying to calm him down."

It's not clear why Lewis jumped on the roof of the train, but he did at one point tell authorities he wanted to "mess up the commute."

A Santa Clara County ambulance was parked at an office center across from the train and multiple sheriff's vehicles were parked on the street.

The disruption has resulted in a shutdown of 50 percent of the light-rail system, Hendler Ross said.

The incident has stopped trains from traveling north of the intersection, a major thoroughfare for the system to provide train service between the Mountain View and Baypointe stations, she said.

A bus bridge has been set up to take passengers from the Mountain View to Alum Rock stations and Civic Center to Alum Rock stations, according to Hendler Ross.

Train service is normal between the Civic Center station south to the Santa Teresa and Almaden stations, she said.

"People are understandably frustrated because they've had long commutes this morning," Hendler Ross said.

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