Train Kills a Man Walking Across Tracks

A 20-year-old Van Nuys man was struck by a train and killed as he walked across railroad tracks in Sepulveda Sunday night, Los Angeles Police said.

George Roman had been “walking back and forth on the tracks” near Woodley Avenue just south of Roscoe Boulevard when he was struck by an Amtrak train at 7:50 p.m., said Detective Mike Brandt.

The train could not stop in time to avoid hitting the man.

“A train that size takes a good mile or half a mile to stop,” Brandt said.

Roman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Roman was believed to have been drinking heavily earlier that evening while watching a football game at a friend’s house, Brandt said. An autopsy will determine if Roman was drunk at the time of the accident, he said.

The train, the Coast Starlight, was carrying 450 to 500 passengers and was traveling from Seattle to Los Angeles. The train was delayed about two hours, said Arthur Lloyd, director of Amtrak public affairs.