Arthur Foulkes
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Witnesses say a man was injured Sunday afternoon after he reportedly crashed a pickup truck into a Terre Haute home and then attempted to escape from the scene by jumping onto a moving train.
People at the scene said the man crashed the truck into a home on South 131⁄2 Street just north of Margaret Avenue about 2:30 p.m. The man then reportedly fled the scene on foot.
According to a neighbor who asked not to be identified, the man ran through the southside neighborhood and then across South 14th Street near the railroad crossing north of Margaret Avenue. The man then jumped onto a slow-moving train that was traveling south on the tracks that run parallel to the western edge of Grandview Cemetery.
“He got on [the train] and about one minute later he tumbled back off,” the neighbor said. The neighbor said that the man’s foot appeared badly injured.
What appeared to be blood stains were visible on the white rocks along the side of the railroad tracks Sunday evening. The neighbor said he left the man for a moment to borrow a cell phone to call 911.
He also borrowed a shirt from another neighbor to provide a form of first aid for the injured man until help arrived.
The impact of the pickup truck on the side of the home on South 131⁄2 moved the house off of its foundation, said Ed Willis Jr., who lives in the home that was hit.
“He didn’t even slow down” before the impact, Willis said of the driver of the truck. There were three passengers in the vehicle who remained at the scene of the crash, Willis noted. They appeared to have received injuries, he said.
Tire tracks were visible in another yard just to the north of the home that was hit by the vehicle. Witnesses said the driver of the truck did a U-turn in that yard before heading back south and ramming the home.
Several people living in the neighborhood said children are normally playing in the area through which the truck traveled. They expressed gratitude no children were playing in the area at the time of the incident.
No further information was immediately available Sunday evening.
