A relationship trainwreck!

[3113]

You know that old bit of wisdom for couples, "Don't go to bed angry"? I think it should be changed to "Don't ever argue while driving..."

Metrolink crash survivor says boyfriend tried to kill them both

The woman whose boyfriend parked their car in front of a speeding Metrolink commuter train told authorities today from her hospital bed that he deliberately tried to kill both of them after a series of arguments that day.

Michelle Wright, 23, told investigators they had been bickering while driving and that he had stopped the car two or three time to press his point before they reached the rail crossing in Pacoima. He pulled around cars that had halted in anticipation of the oncoming train, maneuvered around the guard rail, and stopped on the track, police said.

LAPD Lt. George Rock said today that Wright survived the impact of Monday afternoon's crash because the car was parked slightly askew on the track. As a result, the train hit the car near the rear of passenger's side and away from Wright.

Debris from the crash in Pacoima struck and killed the boyfriend, Brandon Julius Funches, 21, of South Los Angeles, after he had been ejected from the car. Wright's condition today at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills at was upgraded to stable.

Wright's comments seemed to back up detectives' belief that Funches placed the car on the tracks intentionally. But his relatives said earlier today that he didn't try to kill her and was just trying to beat the train across the tracks.

"For them to say it was murder is not right," said Michael Ashford, Funches' uncle. "That is not him. It was just bad judgment. He was wrong."

Ashford said Funches was driving a heavily customized Dodge Magnum and was en route to buy a part for the car when the crash occurred. LAPD officers and Metrolink officials said they were amazed that no one else was hurt in the crash, which occurred at a railroad crossing at San Fernando Road and Branford Street. The incident took place just after noon as the gate arm dropped at the rail crossing, LAPD Sgt. Lee Sands said.

Witnesses told police that they saw the couple shouting at each other inside the Dodge, which was waiting at the crossing for the oncoming Lancaster-bound train to pass. Suddenly, Sands said, the man pulled his car into the opposing lane of traffic, sped past two other waiting cars and the crossing gate, and parked on the tracks.

Some witnesses told police that Funches appeared to have jumped out of the Dodge just as the train hit the vehicle. But police believe that he was ejected from the car when the train hit it -- perhaps while trying to leave the vehicle. The impact sent metal debris flying, with some of the pieces fatally wounding Funches, Sands said.

The train, which carried 125 passengers, did not derail, and no one on board was injured, authorities said. But the Dodge was so mangled, they said, that they could not immediately determine the make or model.

Officials said the force of the crash sent pieces of metal flying as far as a block away. Pieces penetrated cars and disabled a truck by tearing through the engine, LAPD officials said.

Denise Tyrell, a Metrolink spokeswoman, said Monday that its trains in that area go through crossings at up to 79 mph. She said the agency was treating the case as a "deliberate act" and was checking the train's black box recording device for data.

"It is very rare for you to survive being hit by a train in your car," she said. "A train is massive -- 450 tons. Your car is to a train what a soda can is to your car."

 

[elsol]

Since he died and she didn't... she wins the argument.

 

[TE999]

"But he wasn't trying to kill her--he was just trying to beat the train across the tracks."

Some defense.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'm very relieved that the train passengers were unhurt. Last year, a guy parked his car and got out-- the train derailed and numbers of early morning commuters were hurt and killed. The guy had told his girlfriend that if she didn't come back to him she'd "be hearing about him on the news."

 

[English Lady]

I saw this story mentioned on the GB yesterday, people were talking alot about karma


I'm gla no one on the train was hurt and that the girlfriend survived but it's still kinda sad that he died from a bout of rage.

 

[elsol]

I saw this story mentioned on the GB yesterday, people were talking alot about karma


I'm gla no one on the train was hurt and that the girlfriend survived but it's still kinda sad that he died from a bout of rage.

A bout of stupidity.

 

[starrkers]

Definitely seemed like karma. The only one killed - the idiot behind the wheel; the only one injured - the idiot that pushed driving idiot too far.