Norwalk police officer praised after averting Metro-North train crash

NORWALK (WABC) -- A police officer in Norwalk, Connecticut, is being hailed as a hero after he helped avoid a Metro-North train crash Tuesday.

The Norwalk Police Department says Officer Neil Robertson had just finished investigating a motor vehicle accident on Cross Street when he observed train gates lowering. At the time, traffic on Route 1 throughout the city was bumper to bumper due to I-95 south being shut down.

While stopped at the traffic light, Robertson noticed an SUV was stopped within the area of the closing gates. Knowing there was a train approaching, he quickly raced to the SUV, which was gridlocked in traffic.

There was not enough time to back the vehicle up, as Robertson could see the train's headlamp coming from the Wall Street tunnel.

He quickly contacted the vehicles that were in line and managed to make them move ahead, allowing the aforementioned SUV to pull forward seconds prior to the train striking it.

"When I looked down the tracks, and I saw that train, it felt huge, it felt like it was right there," he said.

It was the sound of a 130-ton diesel locomotive bearing down on the railroad crossing. The SUV was trapped on the edge of the tracks, wedged in between gridlocked traffic and a snowbank.

"I could see the bumper, that the bumper and the track were right on top of each other," he said. "The clock is ticking...The horn was blaring on that train, and I can hear it coming."

In an instant, he pleaded with the other drivers to move forward. And video shot by another motorist illustrated that close calls don't get much closer than this.

"It was like the three cars moved simultaneously, they all moved at the same time," he said. "If somebody hesitated for a moment to say 'hey what's going on,' and to not do what I was asking, the accident would have happened."

It happened one day after a locomotive struck and killed a driver after her car was stopped on the tracks in suburban San Francisco and tnd three weeks after the derailment in Valhalla that killed another driver along with five passengers on board the train.

"That was the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw all the cars and the congestion, how the cars were on the track," Robertson said. "I don't know how anybody cannot realize how close to the train tracks they are."

A witness identified as Simon K. brought the incident to the attention the police chief, writing an email that read, "One of your officers deserves praise as he saved a lady from being hit by a train. The woman in a blue SUV stopped on top of the tracks in front of the Cablevision building due to heavy traffic ahead. Very shortly after her halt on the tracks, the lights and bells starting going off and the gate comes down for the approaching train. Lucky for her, one of your officers saw this unfolding and quickly jumped out of his car and ran to the cars in front of the woman to have them move up. He managed to save the day with about 2 seconds to spare."

Chief Tom Kulhawik praised the decisive and courageous actions of the officer.

"Had Officer Robertson not been there and taken swift action, the incident would have likely ended tragically," he said.