Man Hit By Train Wins Lawsuit

A jury has ordered a railroad to pay nearly $600,000 to a transient who was run over by a train as he lay unconscious on the tracks after a bout of drinking.

Pedro Duran, 56, lost his left arm and suffered a broken back and leg in the 1992 accident.

A six-member jury Thursday found CSX negligent for failing to stop the freight train in time.

Members of the train crew testified they thought the passed-out man was a lump of trash. By the time they recognized him to be a person and applied the emergency brakes, it was too late.

Duran’s blood-alcohol level was .203 percent, more than twice the limit for driving. His lawyer contended Duran wasn’t drunk and had been knocked unconscious by another transient while fishing near a trestle.