Freight Train Smashes Into Minivan

Woman, Two Toddlers Escape Before Crash; Infant Remained Inside But Was Not Hurt

(AP)  A freight train smashed into a minivan stuck on railroad tracks Monday as a police officer scrambled to help a man pull his wife and children to safety. An infant still in the van was not hurt.

The woman and two toddlers also escaped unharmed, said Jim Gage, police chief in suburban Elm Grove.

The officer, a 17-year-old veteran, and the husband were hurt, but their injuries were not thought to be life threatening, Gage said. He was proud of the officer.

"He did an awesome job," he said. "... I wish it would have been different. You don't want to see anybody getting hurt at all, especially a person like him, who's just been an awesome guy to work with and has done a great job for us."

It was not clear why the van was on the tracks, but it appeared the woman got stuck in traffic, Gage said. The accident happened about 9:40 a.m. Monday, less than hour before a Memorial Day parade was to start nearby.

The husband, who was traveling behind the van in another vehicle, and the officer pulled the wife and two toddlers from the van but an infant was still in a car seat when the train struck the van. It pushed the vehicle into the men, Gage said.

He declined to identify any of the people involved.

Tim Weiner told reporters on the scene that he saw a police officer come "out of nowhere to help out." After the officer helped the woman and toddlers escape, he tried to save the infant, Weiner said.

"He was reaching in the back when the train hit the car," he said. "He was trying to get the child out. It was unbelievable. This guy is a hero .... He didn't have to risk his life."

Weiner ran over to the officer and thought he hurt his leg and shoulder.

"He just told me, 'Go to the car, get the kid out of there,"' he said. "Here he was laying in pain and all he thought about was getting that kid out. Amazing."

Weiner got the infant out of the car.

The van ended up about 200 feet away, with front end damage, Gage said. He didn't know whether the family was going to the parade but said the van was headed away from the area.

The 94-car freight train was going from Chicago to the Twin Cities with mixed cargo, Canadian Pacific spokesman Mike LoVecchio said. The crew had been told to sound the horn extra times because of holiday traffic, and they did that, he said.

LoVecchio said it's not clear yet how the van became stuck between the crossing gates but the accident serves as a reminder for drivers to be cautious.

"It is very dangerous to proceed into a crossing when you can't get through, meaning when there is extra traffic, stop short of the crossing," he said. "Don't proceed onto the tracks."

Canadian Pacific will cooperate with police and conduct its own internal investigation, as is standard, LoVecchio said.

The Elm Grove parade, which was canceled, is the only one in the area on Memorial Day and can draw about 10,000 people, said Craig Ochs, 36, of Brookfield.

"It's a pretty big event for Elm Grove," Ochs said. The village has about 6,200 residents.

Ochs was gathered with his family to watch and saw the train stop about a quarter or half-mile after hitting the van. They didn't know what had happened at first because it's normal to hear trains in the area and they didn't hear the collision, he said.

"After a period of time, they went up and down the streets and announced the parade was canceled," Ochs said.

[armyoftwelve]

Put that freight train in jail! We no one was actualy driving it when it deliberately hit that minivan.

[puzzler125]

You are not supposed to enter an intersection or railroad crossing unless you can IMMEDIATELY exit the other side. While this had a decent outcome the fact that she stopped on railroad tracks AT ALL indicates ignorance of common sense as well as traffic laws.

[mrs_trepidatious]

Obviously they must be sinners or else this would not have happened.

[fossiljim]

As the comment by goes1962 states, the driver should be charged with endangering lives, wreckless driving ... and stupidity. The last one should require a retest of her driving knowledge. The problem is that people are used to being stupid. They will drive into an intersection when it's obvious that traffic is stopped on the other side and that they will be stuck in the centre, creating obvious safety issues and gridlock once the traffic light turns. But to do this at a railway crossing, when you are responsible for others in your vehicle, the people on the train, people who try to resue you etc, shows the craft of a feeble-minded idiot.

[albert571]

The officer was only 17, thats a news story all by itself! You can't even buy a beer at 17 and he's a cop,wow thats crazy..

[adt13t]

Selfishly insane immediate gratification misplacement of priority
not unlike the infantile obesity epidemic in america hurry up and slow
down.
Where is the adult mind these days.
Mostly a teeming mass of feces smearing infants acting out misplaced priority
Irritable bowels rapidly defecating undigested calories to make room for more
blood thirsty disease ridden misery.
What truly is important in this
fragile existence.
At any given time.
Certainly sad-
avoidable

[novamba]

This must be another one of those blunders made by the Bush administration...

[goes1962]

fred-merta

I will say this again

TRAIN TIME IS ANYTIME

There is no excuse,you dont EVER EVER stop on railroad tracks,she should have waited until the traffic moved far enough before she attempted to go over the crossing.
Maybe you want to defend her and show compassion but I sure as hell wont give her any compassion!!!!! There is no excuse NONE!!!!!!!!!!! My father worked for the railroad for many years and if he was alive today he would have very little sympathy for the stupidity of this woman The words he taught me have stayed with me all though my life

STAY OFF THE TRACKS,TRAIN TIME IS ANYTIME.

If anything good comes out of this I hope this woman has learned a good lesson.

[fred-mertz]

goes1962, I doubt you were there, so you don't know what made her stop on the tracks. It's unlikely that, with the van full of kids, she just DECIDED to stop there. The most likely scenario is that she attempted to cross the tracks, but the cars in front of her stopped, preventing her from getting across. If so, she's not much worse than most drivers. How often do you see cars approach a railroad crossing one at a time, each one waiting until the car in front has completely crossed over all the tracks before they cross even one? That's how it should be done, but that just doesn't happen very often. So, should virtually every driver in this country be "prosecuted for reckless endangerment"? Have a litte compassion, why don't you?

[WayAround]

Where's the guy who writes, "This is news???"

[goes1962]

There is an old saying in the railroad train time is anytime This woman just has no brains in her head.UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO YOU EVER STOP YOUR VEHICLE ON RAILROAD TRACKS EVER!!!!!!!!!! I do not know what in the world this woman was thinking,but hope she is is prosecuted for reckless endangerment. There is just no excuse for her actions!!!!!!!

[rwsmith29456]

Oh my goodness. No one was badly hurt! I read the headline where it said kids were involved and had a terrible feeling in my stomach. Thank you Mr. Policeman! That tells you all cops don't spend their time beating up suspects.