2 Killed When Pickup Darts Into Path of Train

FULLERTON —  An Amtrak train struck a pickup truck as the truck darted around a crossing guard Monday, killing the driver and his passenger, police said.

Police and witnesses said that at the time of the 3:15 p.m. accident, the crossing arms were down over the intersection, warning lights were flashing and bells were ringing as Amtrak’s Desert Wind train, bound for Los Angeles from Chicago, approached. The train was traveling between 45 and 50 m.p.h., authorities said.

The pickup driver was trying to beat the train, said Cindy Brooks, 32, of Fullerton, who was waiting with her daughter at the intersection.

“I told my daughter, ‘Look, honey, there’s a train coming,’ ” Brooks said. “We like to count the cars together. We looked back up right as the train hit (the truck) and dragged it. . . . “

The driver of the pickup, Jose Gutierrez, 29, and his brother, J. Rosario Mejia Gutierrez, 20, both of La Habra, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Amtrak officials could not be reached for comment on the accident, which took place at the Raymond Avenue railroad crossing near Commonwealth Avenue.

A westbound Santa Fe Railroad freight was waiting just east of the intersection, and authorities believe that its placement may have played a part in the accident.

Fullerton Police Sgt. William Grob speculated that because the driver of the pickup saw a stopped train, he may have assumed it was safe to cross the tracks. The freight train also may have blocked the driver’s view of the oncoming Amtrak train, Grob said.

But basically, said Fullerton Police Detective Bill Wallis, the two victims “were probably just impatient.”

In a separate incident, an Amtrak train in Carlsbad, en route to Los Angeles from San Diego, struck and killed a pedestrian as the man crossed the tracks, police said. The victim, identified as Alejandro Sebastion Sanchez, 24, was killed Sunday night when the 900 m.p.h. passenger train struck him, police said.