Recordpub.com - Teens in truck struck by train in Rootstown Police: Pair were trying to cross tracks while gate down

By Marci Piltz

Record-Courier staff writer

ROOTSTOWN -- Two Portage County teenagers were injured early Wednesday morning when the pickup truck they were in was struck by a train on Industry Road.

The driver of the truck, Matthew T. Marsh, 17, of Atwater, and his passenger, Hayden D. Welch, 17, of Rootstown, both suffered injuries as a result of the crash.

Marsh and Welch both were taken to Akron City Hospital for treatment, according to Lt. Michael Marucci, commander of the Ravenna Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

Marsh was listed in satisfactory condition Wednesday, and Welch was listed in serious condition.

Marucci said a preliminary investigation shows Marsh was driving a 1997 Dodge Dakota northbound on Industry Road around 12:25 a.m. when he attempted to cross the lowered gates at the Norfolk-Southern Railroad crossing just south of Tallmadge Road. The truck was struck by an oncoming train, he said.

Debbie Hafemeister and her husband, Ian, live near the tracks and heard the crash occur.

"We heard a big crash and the train slamming on its brakes, so my husband jumped up and looked out the window. Then he said, 'I think the train hit something,'" she said. "I got up and looked and told him there was a car out there. I could see it lying on its passenger side by the tracks, so we put on our shoes and grabbed flashlights and ran outside."

Hafemeister said the driver, Marsh, already was out of the vehicle but appeared injured and also appeared to be in shock.

"I asked if he called 911, and he said 'yes,' and then I asked if anyone else was in the car and he said, 'Yeah, my friend is in there,'" she said.

"Ian and I went up to the truck, and the first thing we saw was a bloody hand sticking out of the truck. We thought he was dead after we saw the condition of the vehicle, because the train hit on the passenger side."

Then, she said, she heard the passenger in the truck "gurgling and trying to breathe." Knowing he was alive, she and her husband began working to try and free him.

"We were kind of afraid, we didn't know if the truck was going to blow up, or if we should even move him," she said. "When I looked in the back window of the truck, he had the seat belt holding him back on one shoulder and the other shoulder was trapped by part of the dashboard."

Eventually, Welch was freed from the vehicle and emergency crews began treating both teens immediately.

"I couldn't even believe both of them were alive," Hafemeister said. "The truck was so mangled, I couldn't even tell at first if it was a car or a truck."

Hafemeister said the crash resulted in the crossing gates being torn down. The gates were "all mangled next to the truck," she said.

Both teens were wearing their seat belts, Marucci said, and alcohol is not suspected as a factor in the crash. The incident remains under investigation at this time.

8.	Posted by Sydney July 29, 2008
	Actually I raised 2 teens and are now in thier 20s also have grandchildren...but I raised mine to have common sense even in the face of stupidity, yea maybe I have heart of stone and have been known to be a loud mouth but I am a GREAT parent, raised 2 very responsable kids, maybe if the parents of the driver had done the same this accident would have never happened! Who's fault was it? The train? No, it runs on tracks and can't swerve to miss things, the flashing lights and gates? No, they worked, the kid driving the car? Hmmmm YEA! Wake up.. But I am sure you would feel the same had this driver ran a stop sign and hit and killed one of your children in a cross walk.....you'd still say "These are teenagers and teenagers make mistakes" I think NOT!

5.	Posted by Sydney July 28, 2008
	Are you kidding me???? Come on now, yea kids make mistakes, but trying to beat a train??? That is stupidity at its best. The only people I feel sorry for are the innocent children who get killed or injured by dumb mistake parents make! How about the train crew who had to slam on the brakes of a 10,000 ton train traveling 60mph, they had no clue when they hit them if they had killed them! Do you think they might have nightmares of seeing the faces of the 2 boys before impact? If I was a lawyer for the railroad I would sue the driver for deress of the employees and loss of service due to all the trains that were held up and lost time! How about the rescue you crew who have to clean up the mess? Sorry I don't feel sorry at all for stupid people, teens or no teens! STOP LOOK LISTEN and LIVE!