2 Men Struck, Killed by Trains

A 54-year-old motorist who tried to drive around a railroad crossing gate in North Hollywood was killed Sunday, police said.

In a second rail accident, a 23-year-old man was struck and killed by a Southern Pacific train while lying on the tracks in Palmdale.

In the North Hollywood accident, Bruce Deerson was trying to drive around the warning gate on Coldwater Canyon Avenue near Raymer Street, when the his car was struck by the train at 10:18 a.m., LAPD Officer Bill Mulvihill said. Deerson suffered massive head injuries in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.

“The warning arms were down and he went around them,” Mulvihill said. “Apparently, he thought he could beat the train.”

None of the 150 passengers or crew members aboard the Santa Barbara-bound train was injured. One of the train’s cabs was damaged and towed away by another train.

Witnesses said Deerson, of North Hollywood, stopped noticeably close to the tracks on the southbound side of Coldwater.

“He was really close to the track,” said 29-year-old Tammy Aguila, of Van Nuys, who was stopped on the other side of the tracks. “I was wondering, ‘What is he doing?’ ”

Aguila said as the train passed she heard a loud noise and watched debris fall from the sky. Then she noticed that Deerson’s Honda had vanished.

“I thought to myself, ‘No way, where’s that car,’ ” Aguila said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Aguila drove to a nearby storage facility and screamed for the people inside to call 911. She and a friend discovered Deerson’s car, a black Civic, next to the tracks, about 200 feet from the railroad crossing.

“It was really sad,” Aguila said.

The train left San Diego early Sunday morning, stopping in Los Angeles and Burbank before continuing north to Santa Barbara. At the time of the accident, the train was estimated to be traveling 69 mph, which is within its speed limit.

Aguila said the train’s horn was blowing as it approached the intersection. She said that before the accident, she saw the security gate in front of Deerson bouncing up and down. But there was no indication that contributed to the accident.

Sunday’s crash was the second fatal accident involving an Amtrak train in Southern California in less than a week. An Anaheim man was struck and killed last Monday after he curled up on the tracks in the dark.

Last year, 53 people were killed in collisions between Amtrak trains and automobiles, said Steven Taubenkibel, an Amtrak spokesman.

In Palmdale, John Robert Parsons was pronounced dead shortly after the 6:55 a.m. accident near 25th Street East and Avenue S-2. Authorities believe the Palmdale man was sleeping on the tracks and awoke just as the train approached.

“We’ll be looking at alcohol and drugs to see if that played a factor or not,” said Dean Gilmour, captain of the Los Angeles County coroner’s investigations division.

Authorities do not believe Parson’s death is a suicide.

Southern Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney said the freight train that struck Parsons was completing a trip from Eugene, Ore., to Colton.

The train’s engineer saw Parsons just before he was struck but could not stop, Gilmour said.

Julie Tamaki is a Times staff writer. Sharon Moeser is a correspondent.