(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Paul Chavez on January 27.)
LOS ANGELES — Sheriff’s Deputy James P. Tutino was so popular at the Men’s Central Jail that even the inmates liked him, friends and co-workers said.
Tutino, 47, of Simi Valley, was one of 11 people killed Wednesday when a suicidal man apparently parked his SUV on railroad tracks in Glendale, then changed his mind and ran as the train carrying the deputy and hundreds of other commuters slammed into it. As that train toppled off the tracks, it struck a northbound commuter train and a parked Union Pacific locomotive.
A 23-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, Tutino was an expert on street gangs and worked in administration headquarters at the jail. “He was a really good guy and was really well liked by everyone,” said Deputy Gordon McMullen, a co-worker at the jail. “Even the inmates liked him. He was a really good person.”
It was the nation’s worst train wreck in nearly six years. Other victims included:
— Elizabeth “Liz” Hill, an accounting services specialist with the city of Glendale. Hill, who had worked for the city since 1979, had planned to retire later this year.
— Scott McKeown, a husband and father who was acting telecommunications manager for the city of Pasadena.
— Manuel Alcala, 51, another sheriff’s employee who worked there for more than 13 years and was a senior general maintenance worker.
— Julia Bennett, 44, a senior clerk typist for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Bureau.
— An unidentified Metrolink conductor. Officials did not know which of the two commuter trains he was aboard, Metrolink CEO David Solow said. The conductor was contracted from Amtrak, which operates the Metrolink trains.
Other names were withheld until relatives could be notified.
Before Tutino was removed from the train, a firefighter retrieved a flag and draped it over him. As rescue workers carried his body away, two lines of deputies, police and firefighters formed and they seemed to salute as one.
Tutino, defensive coordinator for the Simi Valley High School varsity football team, was married and had four grown children.
His next-door neighbor, Barbara Matteson, 38, said members of the football team helped him move in about five months ago and he always had a smile and wave ready.
An avid runner, he participated in the annual law enforcement relay run from Baker, Calif., to Las Vegas.
“He was just a good guy, he bought Girl Scout cookies from my daughter,” Matteson said.
Principal Jan Britz said Tutino was a football coach for years at the high school.
“He really took the time to get to know the kids as a coach and would carry it to another level and get to know them as a friend,” Britz said. And he wouldn’t cut practice short just because he had a bad day at work, she said.
Football players were told of Tutino’s death after final exams Wednesday and school officials planned a Thursday night candlelight ceremony on the football field to honor him, Britz said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that flags over the state Capitol would be flown at half-staff.
“At this incredibly difficult and painful time, Maria and I want to reaffirm to James’ family that we are forever indebted to James for his noble service to his community and state,” Schwarzenegger said.
McKeown, survived by a wife and 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, maintained telephone, radio and sound systems for the city, said Ann Erdman, Pasadena city spokeswoman. Before going to work for the city in 2003 he had worked for Glendale for 14 years.
“He was the most human techie that I’ve ever known,” Erdman said. “He always made it a point to sort of translate technology information and issues down to a level the rest of us could easily understand.”
She described him as a low-key, dedicated family man.
“He was not always flashing photos of the kids, but if asked about his family he would just glow,” Erdman said. “He was very proud of his family and very proud that he was the dad to these kids.”