Motorist Killed by Metrolink Train
An elderly Newhall man died several hours after a Metrolink train rammed into his pickup truck Saturday afternoon, pinning him inside the vehicle.
Joe Smock, 83, approached a Santa Clarita railroad crossing as the warning gates were descending or already down, said Sgt. Richard Larue of the Sheriff’s Department.
The Metrolink engineer was unable to stop, and the 1,700-ton train slammed into Smock’s truck.
“It looked like it hit him in the front and spun him around and hit him in the back,” said Capt. Bernard Deyo of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “It was totally smashed up.”
Rescue workers extricated Smock from the wreckage and took him by ambulance to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia.
He was initially listed in critical condition with head injuries and multiple fractures, said nursing supervisor Rose Morelli. Smock died about 8:15 p.m., said Sgt. Robert Norlemann of the Santa Clarita sheriff’s station.
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