A School Remembers 3 Killed by Railroad Car

The billboard at the entrance to Colton High School, usually reserved for announcements of football games, says simply: “In Loving Memory of Erica Martinez, Frances Mendoza and Cathy Robles.”

The three close friends, just 17 and nearing graduation, were apparently driving to lunch on Thursday, when they were struck by a runaway railroad car that had been set off by a local boy playing on the tracks. Police said the impact destroyed the car.

Several hours later, police arrested a 12-year-old boy who was playing in the vicinity and began to cry during questioning by an officer.

Boy Admits Releasing Brakes, Police Say

Police Saturday said the boy admitted he released the brakes on three freight cars, which then hit two hopper cars, causing them to roll. The front hopper car careened off the tracks at an intersection, crushing the girls’ vehicle and plowing through an occupied building, investigators said.

The victims, Erica Marie, Catherine Elizabeth and Frances, were well-liked students who earlier that morning had participated in the school’s blood drive, school officials said.

“I think it’s kind of ironic that on the day they died, all three of them gave blood and maybe helped save a life,” said Rollin Grider, principal of the high school.

He said the girls’ deaths have “emotionally devastated” the students at the school, where a pep rally scheduled for Friday turned instead into a memorial.

Sgt. Norman Sebern said police do not believe that the boy meant to hurt anyone when he released the brakes holding the rail cars. The five cars traveled together several blocks at about 35 m.p.h., before the front car ran into a mechanism that should have safely derailed it, police said. However, powered by the weight of the four cars behind it, the hopper car ran across the road instead.

Police said the case will be turned over to the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office to determine whether charges will be filed against the boy, who has been turned over to his parents.