Driver Reluctantly Leaves His Truck in Train’s Path

Randall Washington didn’t want to lose his souped-up Ford Bronco.

So what if the sports utility vehicle was stuck on railroad tracks, and a 6,000-foot-long, 3,000-ton freight train was barreling his way?

A Simi Valley police officer had tried numerous times to get the 32-year-old man to abandon his gleaming, white Bronco--covered with chrome detailing and custom parts--but Washington refused again and again, desperately trying to roll the vehicle free. In the last instant, the driver leaped to safety.

Lucky for him.

The Union Pacific train was traveling about 40 mph when it hit the Bronco about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday. The vehicle was thrown into the air and crumpled to the ground about 100 feet away, said Detective Jay Carrott. The Bronco’s engine caught on fire and the flames were quickly extinguished, but no parts of the vehicle were salvageable, he said.

Nobody was injured in the crash.

Washington was arrested on drunk-driving charges and was being held at Ventura County Jail on Thursday. Bail was set at $1,500.

“He is a very nice man who just made a stupid mistake,” Carrott said. “He cared enough to ask if anyone in the train was injured. He kept saying, ‘Was anyone hurt?’ ”

Carrott found the truck stuck on tracks behind Snooky’s bar in the 2000 block of Donville Avenue. The officer heard the vehicle’s engine whining and wheels whirring in the gravel in a futile effort to get off the tracks. Washington had decided to go off-roading in a dirt lot behind the bar.

“He put a lot of money into that [Bronco],” Carrott said. “He was determined to get it off.”

Investigators remained on the scene for an hour and a half, making certain no damage occurred to the train or the tracks, Carrott said. A crewman told police the only damage was a slightly bent ladder on the train, and the tracks were reopened.