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Braking News: Gold Line Hits, Kills Pedestrian

By Dean Lee

A southbound Gold Line train leaving the Del Mar Station struck and killed a pedestrian early Friday morning. No one on the train was hurt and all 40 passages were evacuated officials from the Metropolitan Transit Authorities said.

Michael Flowers, 24, of Altadena was found at approximately 5:34 a.m. just west of the tracks on Del Mar Boulevard between Arroyo Parkway and Raymond Avenue according to Pasadena Fire Department Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian. Early reports suggest the victim may have been a transient. Flowers name was released Sunday by the L A County Coroner's Office.

Derderian said paramedics declared the man dead at 5:45 a.m. It was unclear why the man was on the tracks. MTA spokesman Jose Ubaldo said all the crossing signals were working properly.

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner said an autopsy was secluded for Sunday. “We won’t know the cause of dead until then.”

Dan Gardner, Sergeant of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said they were reviewing any video tape that may have captured the incident. They are also interviewing witnesses he said.

“Right now there is an only speculation as to why he may have been on the tracks,” Gardner said including, an accident, suicide or under the influence of drugs.

Ubaldo said the train involved was taken out of service for further investigation, “It was moved to a yard where they continued doing observation.” He said passengers were transported by buss to the next station. Service was restored at 7:54 a.m.

Ubaldo said this was the second fatality, since the Gold Line’s inception in 2003.

“The first was a suicide,” he said. “That was in 2007.” He added that investigators had not ruled out suicide this time either.