[symple_googlemap title=”” location=”Richfield Road and East Orangethorpe Avenue, Placentia, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]
A suspected drunken driver who drove around crossing gates and into the path of a freight train in Placentia Thursday afternoon was expected to survive, authorities said.
The collision was reported about 4:35 p.m. at Richfield Road and East Orangethorpe Avenue, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi.
The driver, a man in his 30s who was the sole occupant of the Nissan Juke compact SUV, had to be cut out of the wreckage, authorities said. He was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana with injuries that were described as moderate, Concialdi said.
The driver, whose name was not immediately released, drove off the road and around the crossing gates, according to Placentia Police Department Lt. Eric Point, who said the train was traveling about 50 mph when it slammed into the vehicle head-on. The car was southbound on Richfield Road, and the BNSF Railway train was eastbound, Point said.
“The impact propelled the Nissan off the tracks,” he said. “Witnesses observed the driver discarding what appeared to be alcoholic beverages prior to officers’ arrival and the collision is being investigated as a possible DUI.”
Several intersections were blocked along Orangethorpe Avenue after the crash, Point said.
Anyone with information about the crash was urged to contact Placentia police traffic investigators at (714) 993-815
— City News Service