Contributed Photo/Courtesy Tom Sawyer: A truck failed to yield to a train at the crossing at Barney Lane and paid the price.
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A man on his way home from work got a rude awakening when he reportedly attempted to beat a train and failed to do so. No injuries were reported.
According to a Graham County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies were dispatched at about 6 p.m. on Jan. 14 to the area of Barney Lane regarding a truck that had been hit by a train.
Upon arrival, the deputies located a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado that appeared to have been struck and rotated counterclockwise to the east of the railroad crossing. The train itself was well beyond the crossing at Barney Lane.
The driver, identified as Michael Gene Abalos, 55, of Safford, was given a citation for failure to stop while approaching a railroad crossing as an approaching train is plainly visible and is in hazardous proximity to the crossing. It is a civil offense.
Abalos said he was on his way home from work in Morenci and didn’t notice the train. However, he was later overheard saying he had seen it and attempted to outrun it to the crossing, according to the Sheriff’s Office report.
