Search for suspect causes LIRR delays

Spokesman Sal Arena said Freeport Village police asked that power be cut to the railroad as they conducted their search between about 4:45 and 5:45 a.m., and Metropolitan Transportation Authority police complied.

Police did not catch the suspect, Arena said, and full power was restored after about 45 minutes.

Officials said three early morning trains -- the 5:18 a.m. train from Wantagh to Penn Station, the 5:41 a.m. train from Babylon to Penn Station and the 5:44 a.m. train from Amityville to Penn Station -- were canceled because of the search.

Three other trains on the branch operated with delays of between 10 minutes and 40 minutes.

Also early on Wednesday, a broken rail on the Montauk Branch, between the Mastic-Shirley station and Speonk, caused one cancellation and another delay of nearly 40 minutes.