(The following story by Rick Yencer appeared on the Muncie Star Press website on January 25.)
MUNCIE, Ind. — Three people were critically injured Thursday afternoon when the driver apparently tried to beat an oncoming CSX train at a near-eastside crossing on Vine Street.
Ron White was stopped at the nearby Hackley Street crossing when he saw a car drive through the Vine Street crossing and be struck by the eastbound train. The accident happened at 4:13 p.m.
“That one person had a really bad skull injury,” said White, watching as police, fire and paramedics removed the victims from the scene.
Bobbie Griffin, 24, 611 N. Jefferson St., was the driver of the car, which was headed south on Vine, according to Muncie Police Department Sgt. Brad Arey, head of the MPD traffic division.
Arey said Griffin drove around the crossing gates and in front of a westbound Norfolk Southern train that was parked at the crossing. As Griffin’s car crossed the tracks, it was hit by the eastbound CSX train, which forced the car down the tracks and into a nearby yard.
Bobbie English, 50, 709 W. Adams St., was sitting in the front passenger’s seat when the train hit and was the most seriously injured, suffering critical head injuries. He was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital where he remained in critical condition.
Griffin and another passenger, Jamie Shields, 27, who apparently lives with English, were taken to Ball Memorial Hospital with multiple injuries.
Arey said the three were not entrapped in the vehicle, as crews worked on the victims at the scene to stabilize them before transport.
Police said they were investigating whether Griffin might have been drinking, given that the driver allegedly smelled of alcohol.
Evelyn Wyatt, who lives next to the east-west railroad line, said the driver tried to beat the train and made no attempt to stop.
The trains blocked traffic along eastside crossings in Muncie for more than an hour until police completed their investigation.
Doug Wellman, an engineer in one of the trains, said the gates were down as the motorist drove around them.
It was the first train-car accident in Muncie this year.