Drugs Not A Factor In Fatal LA Train Crash

An autopsy shows the Metrolink engineer involved in a train collision that killed 25 people in September was not on drugs or medication before he ran a red light that could have prevented the crash in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles County coroner released the results Wednesday, noting that toxicology reports on Robert Sanchez came back clean and that injuries he sustained from the crash were "rapidly fatal."

Deputy Medical Examiner Lisa A. Scheinin wrote that some sections of Sanchez's heart contained scarring, which could possibly cause an irregular heartbeat. She listed his official cause of death as an accident.

"Exactly what we expected," John Sanchez, the engineer's brother, told the LA Times. "He did not pass out, it was not drug-induced."

Federal investigators have said Sanchez was text messaging 22 seconds before his train collided with a Union Pacific freight on Sept. 12 in Chatsworth.

The National Transportation Safety Board subpoenaed Sanchez's cell phone records to review text messages that two 14-year-olds said they exchanged with him in the moments before the wreck. CBS station KCAL-TV correspondent Kristine Lazar first reported that a teenager received a text message on his cell phone from the engineer at 4:22 p.m. - a minute before the collision.

Sanchez didn't hit the brakes moments before the crash and was in the midst of an 11½-hour split shift when he ran a red light that could have prevented the deadly wreck, federal investigators said.

NTSB board member Kitty Higgins said the conductor claimed Sanchez told him he took a two-hour nap during his break but was not aware of any other factors that could have caused him to overlook the red light.

"He was not aware of any physical ailment that the engineer had," Higgins said. "He had no information on any medication he may have been taking. He had no issues in his time of working with the engineer on the way he operated the train."