Teen charged in Des Plaines train crashes

Des Plaines police have charged a 19-year-old man from Niles in two cases involving stolen cars that were abandoned on Metra's North Central Service Line in late November and earlier this month.

Kenneth Cooper, of the 8900 block of North Washington Street, is charged with two counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

On Dec. 7, Niles police arrested Cooper in a stolen vehicle, according to a news release.

Property recovered from Cooper was traced back to one of the stolen vehicles involved in the Des Plaines Metra crash, police said.

Cooper later admitted to Des Plaines police officers that he was responsible for the stolen cars abandoned in Des Plaines, causing the train crashes, police said.

Police had suspected the Des Plaines train crashes, which occurred a week apart, were somehow linked. Both crashes occurred around the same time, about 6 a.m. The cars were left on the Canadian National railroad track near the intersection of Rand and Seegers. The investigation involved several police departments as one vehicle had been stolen from Elgin, and another from Morton Grove.

Cooper is set to appear at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 27, at the Skokie courthouse.