A sheriff’s deputy was credited Monday with saving the life of a suicidal woman he spotted anxiously awaiting a train along a desolate stretch of Metrolink tracks.
Deputy Jorge Perez, part of the sheriff’s Transit Bureau, was on his way to fill up his patrol car Friday when noticed the woman standing next to rails running along San Fernando Road between Sheldon Street and Brandford Avenue, according to a sheriff’s spokesman.
Perez, a 32-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, pulled over and shooed the woman away from the tracks, where Metrolink trains whiz by at speeds up to 70 mph.
Moments after getting back into his car, someone flagged Perez down, saying he or she was worried about the woman after seeing her wander away from her car. Perez, who knew a train was due soon, went back where he last saw the woman and spotted her standing on the tracks.
“When I realized what she wanted to do, I knew if I didn’t move quickly things were going to go bad and fast,” Perez said.
He reported the situation by radio, then went after the woman, who came off the tracks without a struggle. Perez took her to county-run Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar for a psychological evaluation.
— City News Service