Man killed by train was second Downtown Lodi incident this year

A pedestrian killed by a passing train near Pine Street in Downtown Lodi on Tuesday evening was the second train-related death in Downtown Lodi this year.

Lodi police officers responded to the report of a northbound Union Pacific Railroad train striking and killing a man at 7:13 p.m. near the Lodi Transit Station. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff ’s Office, county coroner and the Union Pacific Railroad police were on scene investigating the incident on Tuesday evening as well.

Deputy Jennifer Kline, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office, said the man’s identification will be released once his next of kin is notified.

“My husband and son saw it and heard it stopping,” Teresa Saboulle commented on the Lodi Police Department’s Facebook post about the incident.

“They said the force to stop was like nothing they ever heard or seen before,” she said. “The cars were crashing into each other pretty badly.”

Michell Mercer also commented on the department’s post, and said no one gets used to hearing a horn blare followed by the sound of a train braking.

Tim McMahan, spokesman for the railroad, said the train’s crew was not harmed during the collision.

No other details about the incident were released Wednesday.

This is the second train fatality near Downtown Lodi in 2020, and the fourth overall in the area over the past year.

On Feb. 23 at about 8:32 p.m., a southbound Union Pacific train struck and killed a man sitting on the tracks near East Pine and South Sacramento streets. The crew was unharmed in that collision as well.

The man in that collision was identified as 64year-old Terrance Ellison of Lewiston.

On March 13, employees at the Micke Grove Golf Links reported a body found near the railroad tracks at about 8:30 a.m. Sheriff’s deputies said the deceased woman had been struck by a train.

On Sept. 13, 2019, a westbound BNSF train collided with a vehicle near West Woodbridge Road just west of North Ray Road in Thornton at about 10:11 p.m.

The driver, identified as 60-year-old Joaney Louise Kolp of Woodbride, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Thornton Rural Fire District crews responded to the accident, and said Kolp’s vehicle had somehow become stuck on the tracks, facing south between the warning bars.

The vehicle was struck from behind and pushed down an embankment.