Man Tossed in Locomotive’s Path; Foot Mangled

A 34-year-old man suffered a mangled foot Monday when four people who beat and tried to rob him threw him in front of a locomotive, Los Angeles police said.

Humberto Arias, 34, of El Sereno was in serious condition at County-USC Medical Center, with a partial amputation of his right foot.

Arias, an unemployed laborer, was walking home on Valley Boulevard from a friend’s house about 1:45 a.m. when he noticed that four people--three men and a woman--were following him, Hollenbeck Division Detective John Munguia said. “They followed him quite a while, for about half a mile. Then they started throwing rocks at him,” Munguia said.

Arias ran across the boulevard and onto the railroad tracks, “to hide,” Munguia said. But the four followed and caught up with him when he apparently stumbled.

“They said, ‘Give me your money,’ ” Munguia said, but Arias refused. “He didn’t have any. They hit him with some rocks. He has lacerations on his face.”

The attackers, who police believe may have been gang members and were apparently between the ages of 19 and 25, then talked about what to do next.

The woman said, “Let’s kill him,” but the others said, “Let’s throw him in front of the train,” Arias told police.

They threw Arias in front of an oncoming locomotive, Munguia said, “but he managed to turn himself away.”

“Unfortunately his right foot got stuck, and the train ran over it,” the detective said.

Arias began yelling for help, Munguia said, and his attackers fled.