Cops save 'drunk' woman from car lodged on rail tracks
A woman who drove her car on to railroad tracks has been pulled from the vehicle just moments before it was destroyed by a speeding train.
Laurie Foulke, 43, had allegedly been drinking when she accidentally turned on to the Long Island Rail Road tracks in Bay Shore, New York.
Her Volkswagen Jetta became stuck and, despite her trying, she was unable to dislodge the vehicle.
Christopher Palazzo and Jereme Matthews from Suffolk County Police had been responding to calls nearby and raced to the scene.
They began clearing people from the area before pulling the woman from her car and running from the tracks, the New York Post repor ted.
'Within 50 seconds of their arrival, the train struck the car,' a Suffolk police source told the paper.
Shor tly after 5 p.m., Foulke's car was destroyed by the train - the 4.06 p.m. from Long Island City bound for Montauk.
As the train smashed into the Jetta, it sent it 'flying across the tracks', police told Newsday.
The crash came after the officers had tried to coordinate with the MTA to stop the train - but it was too late.
Around 300 passengers on board the train were delayed as a result of the collision, but no one was injured. The crash also delayed later trains.
Foulke was arrested for driving under the influence.
The railroad crossing warning lights and gates had been functioning normally at the time, police added.