Search for suspect causes LIRR delays

Freeport police looking for a burglary suspect Wednesday morning requested power be cut to service on the Long Island Rail Road, prompting cancellations and delays on the Babylon Branch, an LIRR spokesman said.

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.