Local News in Brief : San Juan Capistrano : Man Critically Injured When Hit by Train
A 21-year-old man who had been drinking at a nearby saloon was struck and critically injured by an Amtrak train Saturday night as he stood beside the railroad tracks outside the depot, authorities said.
Lt. Randy Blair of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Eric Thomas Blackman left the San Juan Saloon next to the railroad tracks “in an apparently intoxicated state and staggered over to an area near the railroad tracks.”
As Blackman stood beside the tracks, the engineer of the oncoming train saw him and applied the locomotive’s brakes, Blair said. However, the engineer was only able to slow the train before it hit the man.
Blackman suffered head injuries that included a skull fracture, Blair said. The victim was treated at the depot by paramedics and then transported by ambulance to Mission Community Hospital’s Trauma Center, where his condition was listed as grave.
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