By Kimberly Gasuras
A Bucyrus man was not injured when his vehicle collided with a train Monday night.
Bucyrus Police are investigating the crash that occurred shortly after 9 p.m. at the crossing on East Oakwood Avenue.
Kolten Belcher, 22, said he was crossing the tracks when his vehicle was struck by the oncoming train.
“I really don’t know what happened after the train hit my car,” Belcher said.
Bucyrus Police Officer Neil Assenheimer said it appears that Belcher crossed the tracks as the train approached. The first engine of the train struck the front end of Belcher’s vehicle, turning it and moving it around a crossing light pole and into a yard on the south side of Oakwood Avenue, next to the tracks.
“He is lucky to be alive,” said Belcher’s father, Kenny Belcher, who came to the scene when he was notified about the crash.
Kolten Belcher said he was on a pizza delivery for his job at Baker’s Pizza.
Norfolk-Southern Railroad officials were called to the scene to assess damages to the first three engines of the train. Assenheimer said the train had been traveling at around 25 miles per hour when the crash occurred.
“That is an acceptable speed in the city for trains,” said Assenheimer.
While Kolton Belcher did not sustain any injuries, his grandfather was checked out at the scene by Life Support Team EMS after he began having chest pains. Bucyrus firefighters were also assisting at the scene.
“Dad is okay now, this just really upset us all,” Kenny Belcher said.
Assenheimer said Kolton Belcher is being issued a citation for failure to stop at a railroad grade crossing while the flashers were operating.
Bloomfield Towing was called to remove Kolton Belcher’s vehicle from the scene.