The horror of Metrolink crash lives on
I don't like writing stories like this. There's drama, there's action and they're absolutely horrible. A one-homicide story is bad enough, but multiply that by 11 and throw in the scores and scores of physically wounded and emotionally scarred people and it's infinitely worse.
Three years ago today, Steven Toby settled down for a quick nap and woke up in a nightmare.
The 51-year-old Shadow Hills man was headed south on Metrolink 100, catching a little shut-eye on his way to his job at Los Angeles City Hall. The clock read 6:02 a.m. A tremendous collision jarred him awake.
The lights went out and Toby heard a mass gasp. His train had gone off the rails.
"You think, `Oh, I'll get through this and go on like before,"' he said. "But the consequences reach far beyond me and the people affected that day."
Three years, one arrest, 11 deaths and dozens of lawsuits later, the families of the worst disaster in Metrolink history hope their long quest for justice is close to an end.
The Los Angeles Superior Court has scheduled the criminal trial of Juan Manuel Alvarez for March 24. The 25-year-old Compton man, who drove his SUV onto the tracks at Chevy Chase Drive in Glendale, stands accused of 11 counts of murder, along with arson and train-wrecking charges. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.
The civil trial against Metrolink is supposed to go to trial July 14, too, which will reopen the old pain anew. I can't imagine what it must have been like for the victims, the responders or the neighbors and bystanders who ran to help. As in any disaster, the best and worst sides of human nature were on display that day.
Stay tuned on this one-- they're both going to be long, painful trials and we'll do our best to keep you informed.
(My thanks go out to my partner, Mr. Dobuzinskis, on this one. The story would have been a lot shorter and a lot less interesting had it not been for his timely assistance)
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