For the second time in four days, trains have brought death to those who wandered onto the tracks in Manteca.
This time, it was a 53-year-old unhoused man who was badly injured Sunday in a desperate attempt to save his dog, whose leash had become caught on a railroad tie as an oncoming train approached, Manteca police said in a news release.
Despite the man’s efforts, he was unable to free the dog, and the train struck both him and his canine companion. His left arm was badly injured, and the dog — a brown-and-white pit bull mix — was killed in the 10:36 a.m. incident on the tracks between Yosemite Avenue and Center Street, police said.
Authorities said the man was unhoused, living on the streets in the Manteca. His name was not immediately released.
It took the train almost a mile to come to a complete stop, where it blocked Yosemite Avenue, Walnut Avenue and Union Road, police said.
The accident followed the death of a woman Wednesday morning on the tracks adjacent to Moffat Boulevard underneath the Highway 120 overpass. Officers received a report of a woman on the tracks, but could not reach her in time. She was identified by the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s office as Melissa Dunn, 48.
“It is important for the public to remember that trains coming through town cannot stop in a
reasonable distance to avoid hitting persons or animals on the track,” police said in a statement. “Therefore, it is important to stay off the tracks unless crossing at an approved crossing when the arms are up, and no trains are approaching.”