Man Throws Bike Onto Metro Tracks; Train Smashes Into It: WMATA

WASHINGTON, DC -- A man has been arrested after police say he threw a bike onto Metro tracks, which was then struck by a train, and then lit a fire in the Metro station before leaving.

Police arrested 50-year-old Demarcus Joseph Graves on charges of felony malicious destruction of property, malicious burning, impeding Metro operations, fare evasion, and open warrants. WMATA said in a statement that shortly after 7 p.m. on Sunday, Graves attempted to walk into the station without paying the fare and then took a LimeBike -- a bike share bicycle -- that had been left by someone else and threw it on the inbound Metro tracks.

"The bike landed between the two rails and was struck by an arriving Orange Line about 90 seconds later. Passengers aboard the train were safely offloaded to the platform; there were no injuries," the WMATA statement reads. "The impact with the bicycle caused significant damage to the undercarriage of the train. Metro was forced to single track around the incident for more than four hours before the train could be moved."

Graves then lit a paper food box on fire while on the platform, and then exited the station, police said.

After reviewing video, police located Graves about a quarter mile from the station and arrested him.

Image via WMATA