POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A homeless man who was hit and killed by a train in Polk County was said to have been “lounging” on the tracks as the train approached, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the 40-year-old man lied down in front of a train around 6 p.m. on Friday in the area of Neptune Road and Hillcrest Road in Auburndale.
According to the investigation, the crew on the train said to have thought the man was debris on the tracks, but as they got closer, they realized it was a man sitting on the rail, with one leg in the air.
Crew began blaring the air horn and trying to stop the train, but the man did not move off the tracks. The man “appeared to move his leg in an attempt to lay under the train,” and the crew then lost sight of him, according to detectives.
Apparent K2 was found in his pocket, along with his Florida ID and social security card, deputies said.
His family told detectives the man had a lengthy history of drug use.
The train was a CSX locomotive pulling around 129 cars. It blocked two intersections, Recker Highway and Hillcrest Road, and Hillcrest Road and Neptune Road.