VENTURA, Calif. (AP) - An Arizona man has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years probation for causing a fatal California train derailment by driving his truck onto the railroad tracks.
Ventura County District Attorney Gregory Totten said Thursday that Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez of Yuma, Arizona, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter.
Sanchez-Ramirez, 58, was traveling through Oxnard on Feb. 24, 2015, when he mistakenly turned his truck onto the railroad tracks.
When the vehicle and the trailer it was towing became stuck authorities say Sanchez-Ramirez abandoned it without contacting police.
It was struck by a commuter train that derailed.
Sanchez-Ramirez said he ran for his life after failing to free the truck as the train approached.
The crash killed engineer Glenn William Steele and injured 30 passengers.
