A 28-year-old man was charged Friday with threatening a Metrolink train conductor in Irvine at knifepoint when he was tossed for not having a ticket.
Erwin Estuardo Morales Jr. was charged with aggravated assault on a public transportation employee, criminal threats and assault with a deadly weapon, all felonies, with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. Morales pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana and was next due in court Nov. 24 for a pretrial hearing in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.
Police were called just before 12:25 p.m. Wednesday to the Metrolink station at 15215 Barranca Parkway when Morales got into a dispute with a train conductor for having no ticket, said Ziggy Azarcon, a spokesman for Irvine police. As his backpack was removed from the train, an allegedly knife-wielding Morales was accused of threatening the conductor, Azarcon said…