x
Breaking News
More () »

Police: Man Survives SUV Crash, Hit by Train Moments Later

DALTON — Railroad officials say two train collisions–eight miles apart–were called in within two minutes of each other Friday. While they are ...

DALTON -- Railroad officials say two train collisions--eight miles apart--were called in within two minutes of each other Friday. While they are not believed to be connected, it is a very unusual set of circumstances.

It all started just before 6 a.m. Friday along East Main Street in Dalton. State police say a man crashed his Jeep into a pole. First responders said when they arrived, nobody was inside that Jeep.

That crash knocked out power to people in the area. According to PPL nearly everyone has power back on now.

Troopers said right after the Jeep crashed, the 68-year-old driver from Dalton walked onto train tracks nearby. At around 6 a.m., he was hit and killed by a northbound train.

"It's kind of like a walking trail. People do walk now and then and there are kids on motorbikes and so forth, but I have never had any problems whatsoever," said Frank Colombo of Glenburn Township, who lives near the tracks.

Railroad officials said just two minutes after the deadly collision in the Dalton area was called in, eight miles away in Scranton, another train t-boned a pickup truck that was abandoned on the tracks.

Scranton police say the owner of that truck had loaned it to her boyfriend, but they are not sure if he was the one who left it on the tracks or if he had given the keys to someone else.

Even though the two train crashes happened within minutes of each other, rescue crews were able to get to each crash site without any problems. That's because one 911 dispatcher handles the city and another deals with the county. That helped keep the two train incidents separate.

Railroad police have taken over the investigation in Scranton. The person who left that pickup truck on the tracks could face criminal charges.

Late Friday afternoon, the Lackawanna County coroner ruled the death of the man in Dalton a suicide.

Before You Leave, Check This Out