This story is one of those ehre you just shake your head, although I do love the way he shaved the top of the Hoppers...Paul
BELEN — A man is in the hospital this morning after the car he was driving catapulted over a ditch, a fence, two trains and four railroad tracks Thursday morning.
Belen Police Chief Scott Conner stands on a ditchbank on First Street and Baca Avenue near the tracks left in the dirt by a car that flew over the ditch, fence, trains and railroad tracks, landing in the BNSF rail yard.
Belen Police Chief Scott Conner said just before 9 a.m. Thursday, Anthony Sanchez, unknown age, of Belen, was driving east on Baca Avenue at a reportedly high rate of speed. He said the vehicle didn’t slow down when it reached First Street, hit the curb and ditchbank and flew over the BNSF fence, skimmed the top of two train cars and over four railroad tracks.
Sanchez and his vehicle landed in the Belen rail yard, sustaining unknown injuries. The chief said rescue personnel transported him to the Presbyterian Urgent Care on Christopher Road, where a PHI helicopter picked him up and transported him to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
The incident was witnessed by Eric Gibson, who saw the entire incident.
“I was coming out of (Hodge’s Oil) over here and headed north on First Street,” Gibson said. “I look up and see a car coming so fast that I didn’t even have time to determine if he was going to make the corner.”
Gibson said he saw the blue-colored sedan hit the curb, hit the dirt and fly over the fence.
“He hit the train and was still climbing as I was looking,” he said. “He started to roll to the right and he went out of sight on the other side. It was unbelievable. I’ve never seen a car going that fast and do that in such a short amount of time. Unbelievable.
“If I was three seconds faster, he would have nailed me,” he said. “It’s one of those things that you see on the internet, crazy things that happen. That’s what it was.”
Conner said Sanchez is being treated at UNM-H, and has consented to a blood draw. Belen police are continuing their investigation.
