Neighbors: One-legged man killed by train was trying to save dog
WHEATLAND, Calif. -- A one-legged man who was struck and killed by a train was trying to save his dog while in a wheelchair, witnesses told CBS Sacramento.
Neighbors at the mobile home park where he lived identify him as Jim Boswell. They say he was in his 60's and was very independent.
You can see his prosthetic leg he kept outside his home. But Friday, when tragedy struck, he was in his wheelchair.
People who live at the heritage park mobile home park are used to the sounds of trains passing. But Friday, around 7:45 p.m., there was a much different noise - one they say they'll never forget.
"The sound of those brakes. It's an eerie sound, you know, where you're just really getting down on the brakes," said neighbor Ron Edwards.
Edwards heard the train crash. Later, he says he found out it killed his neighbor in his wheelchair.
"Oh it was sad, of course. Plus he's got his little dog with him and everything," Edwards said.
Witnesses say the dog was with Boswell last night. He'd just gone to Big Al's Market when his dog got away from him.
Wheatland police are not commenting on the investigation. However, witnesses say they think the man was trying to catch up to his dog before the train came, but his wheelchair became stuck.
Both Boswell and his dog were killed.
"He had just come in. We had literally just helped him less than five minutes before it happened," said Big Al's Market employee Rachel Sewell.
Twenty-four hours later, some of his groceries were still on the tracks - and workers at the market are still in shock over what happened to their regular customer - a man they describe as prideful and independent, who never asked for help and cherished his dog.
"This whole town is praying for you guys. We're all really, we're all distraught," Sewell said.
Neighbors say Boswell lived with a female relative who acted as his caretaker and they'd only been living in the mobile home park a few months.