Home › News › County News
Police search for driver of big rig hit by Amtrak train
Truck was left close to tracks off 118; rail passengers unhurt
Download this story as a podcast!
Photos by Jason Redmond / Star staff Tow truck driver Don Lehmkuhl inspects the cab of a big rig that was struck by a northbound Amtrak train outside Moorpark on Tuesday night. California Highway Patrol officials are searching for the truck's driver.
STORY TOOLS 
More from County News
Lauren Pulliam and boyfriend, Tyler Frank, both of Santa Barbara, wait near the tracks with other passengers after the accident Tuesday.
Police are still trying to locate the driver of a big rig that was abandoned and hit by an Amtrak train Tuesday night outside of Moorpark.
"We've contacted the owner, and we are still trying to determine who the driver was that parked it," said Brandon Mumme, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in Moorpark.
The truck is registered to a man in Hayward, but there is conflicting information on who was driving the truck, he said.
The train, bound for Goleta, hit the cab of the truck about 9:20 p.m. The truck was parked parallel with the tracks facing the northbound train. The train pushed the truck about 15 feet, stopping adjacent to mile marker 14 on eastbound Highway 118, between Mejico Creek and Balcom Canyon, said CHP officials.
CHP officials did not know how fast the train was traveling. The posted speed limit in the area is 70 mph.
There were no injuries, and passengers reported the impact of the crash was slight, aside from the train braking quickly.
The truck did not have any cargo and was parked on a gravel slope leading up to the tracks, with its passenger side jutting into the train's path.
No parking signs are posted in the area, and it is not a known spot for trucks to park, Mumme said. It took two hours to remove the cab and trailer. Mumme said tractor-trailers often park near the road, but the truck should not have been so close to the tracks.
There is an area nearby referred to as the pit scales, where trucks are inspected along the roadside.
The 785 train left Los Angeles about 8 p.m. carrying 150 passengers and three crew members.
Amtrak mechanics were sent to inspect damage to the train's brakes.
Train service stopped long enough to remove the truck and was restored overnight, said Marc Magliari, spokesman for Amtrak.
Amtrak terminated the train trip and chartered buses for the 103 passengers who needed transportation, he said. Many of the passengers were college students from San Diego, where classes were canceled because of the wildfires.
Posted by FedUp on October 25, 2007 at 8:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I am guessing it is an undocumented worker who was driving it. no other reason for the owner of the truck to "not" know exactly who it is. typical.
Posted by liz81 on October 25, 2007 at 10:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why did this all of a sudden turn into an "illegal immigrant" issue??? That doesn't necessarily mean they were illegal....You can't blame all problems on them.
Posted by FedUp on October 25, 2007 at 11:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
we aren't blaming all the problems on illegals. just the ones that they continually cause.
Posted by XcLarate on October 25, 2007 at 11:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Boo Hoo!!! Im "FED UP" with all the problems these undocumented workers cause, Train accidents, our nation's economy, World hunger, Global warming, I'm sure they even had something to do with 9-11 and Kenedy's assasination...
Posted by FifthAmmendment on October 25, 2007 at 1:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, how did this become a illegal immigration issue. If you were really concerned with illegals you would vote for a independent and not a democratic or republican president. Instead you, like sheep, you blindly vote for the same criminals as you always do.
Now go pay your taxes so you can support the next wave of illegals.
Posted by FedUp on October 25, 2007 at 1:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
how would you know which side I vote for?? how would you know I act blindly like a sheep?
take a look around you. a large majority of the hit and runs happening today, involve illegals. aren't they still looking for a few truck drivers from that horrendous accident on the 5 freeway?? do you think that honest citizens would just flee the scene, and not stick around to answer any questions about why or how their company truck was left behind???
I did not think so.
and for the record, Global Warming is a farce, and I was the second shooter...
Posted by XcLarate on October 25, 2007 at 2:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey FedEx!! Have you ever seen a blind sheep than can vote, type, and has bad grammer..
Posted by FedUp on October 25, 2007 at 3:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Hey FedEx!! Have you ever seen a blind sheep than can vote, type, and has bad grammer.."
You are bashing me about my GRAMMAR????
hello pot, meet kettle.
Posted by XcLarate on October 25, 2007 at 4:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
DOOPE!!! AH EMM HMM... I was talking to FedEx not FedUp Ur grammar is just fine, ur shift key must be missing not ur fault...
Posted by desdave on October 25, 2007 at 4:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Like it or not, the reality is that many many of the traffic accidents in this area involve illegal unlicensed uninsured drivers. That is a main contributor to the number of hit and runs. And it's almost impossible to believe that you won't know who is driving your truck unless there is something to hide. And no they aren't responsible for all our problems, but a great number of our problems locally (and in many other places) can be attributed to illegals. Where do we start? The gang wave? Dragging down wages? overwhelming the emergency medical and other social services systems? Dumbing down the schools? High insurance rates due to no license, no insurance? Shame on the federal gov't for allowing this to happen.
Posted by FedUp on October 25, 2007 at 4:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
who the heck is FedEx? isn't he Britneys ex hubby??
Posted by byteme on October 25, 2007 at 4:39 p.m.
(This thread was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by kelly13 on October 25, 2007 at 7:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There is always someone who ask "how did this turn into an illegal alien issue?".
It is an illegal alien issue because the illegals are the root of so many of our problems.
Fed Up was right. It probably was an illegal and that is the first thing most of us thought. For good reason. Desdave listed a few.
Don't get your feathers ruffled if someone calls it like they see it. The fact is we have illegals that are causing us an overwhelming amount of problems. This might be another example of one.
Posted by Nosmo_King on October 25, 2007 at 9:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Fedup and tanknows wrote
"undocumented"
the first mention of "illegal" was liz81. there are benefits to being here without citizenship...you get out of jury duty !
Posted by 3rdAmmnendment on October 25, 2007 at 10:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree that the problem is most likely caused by illegals, as I believe it is the cause of high auto and medical insurance. Increases in crime. The destruction of social security and social services. I also think americans are the laziest people on earth when it comes to solving issues. We expect that someone will take of the problem for them. Guess what? You can't hire a illegal to take of the illegal immigrant issue.
Posted by imbetnonit on October 26, 2007 at 2:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Is the word "care" missing from the last post?
Posted by imbetnonit on October 26, 2007 at 2:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We do have someone else we expect to solve problems, they are our elected officials, who we pay with our taxpayer dollars. That isn't being lazy. Lazy is living somewhere for 20 years and not taking the initiative to learn the language or customs. Lazy is living somewhere for 20 years and not evolving at all.
Posted by kelly13 on October 26, 2007 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
3rd Ammendment...how can you call us lazy when we work our butts off to support ourselves, our community and country, 20 million illegals, and half the world with foreign aide? The lazy ones are the ones that don't take care of themselves or their country.
I do expect my elected officals to represent me and on that level, I feel really let down. They are being bought out and I am tired of it.
Speaking out and contacting people is step one.
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
- Posts that degrade others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability.
- Disparaging remarks, abusive language or obscene comments.
- Threats, whether obvious or veiled.
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.
There are 17 comments to this article.
Comments are found beneath the Yahoo! ad below.