Man Lying on Tracks, Motorist Killed in Separate Rail Incidents

A 54-year-old man who tried to drive around a railroad crossing gate in North Hollywood was struck by an Amtrak train and killed Sunday, and a 23-year-old man lying on tracks in Palmdale died after a Southern Pacific freight train hit him, authorities said.

Bruce Deerson, of North Hollywood, was trying to drive around the warning gate on Coldwater Canyon Avenue near Raymer Street when his car was struck by the passenger train at 10:18 a.m., said Los Angeles Police Officer Bill Mulvihill. Deerson died at the scene of massive head injuries.

“The warning arms were down and he went around them,” Mulvihill said. “Apparently he thought he could beat the train.”

None of the 150 passengers or crew members aboard the Santa Barbara-bound train were injured. One of the train’s cabs was damaged and towed away by another train.

Sunday’s crash was the second fatal accident involving an Amtrak train in Southern California in less than a week. An Anaheim man was killed last Monday after he curled up on the tracks in the dark.

In Palmdale, John Robert Parsons was pronounced dead shortly after the 6:55 a.m. accident. Authorities believe that he was sleeping on the tracks and awoke just as the train approached.

“We’ll be looking at alcohol and drugs to see if that played a factor,” said Dean Gilmour, captain of the Los Angeles County coroner’s investigations division.

Authorities do not believe Parsons’ death was a suicide. The train’s engineer saw Parsons but could not stop, Gilmour said.