A metra train nearly hit an Illinois police officer after the warning lights above the train crossing failed to illuminate in time to stop oncoming traffic.
Police officer Peter Staglewicz of the Mokena Police Department narrowly avoided being struck by an inbound Rock Island Line train, ABC News reported Thursday. Staglewicz was driving on 191st street when in the incident occurred, according to ABC.
Dash cam footage shows Staglewicz veer away from the speeding train just in time to avoid what could have been a fatal accident. Warning lights above the train crossing failed to illuminate until moments before the train sped by.
“He [Staglewicz] had really good instincts,” Metra rider Melanie Frieh said, ABC7 reported. “That’s good that he was able to do that because not many people have that type of instincts, like if it was somebody else, they easily could have gotten injured,” Frieh added. (RELATED: DC Metro Transit Police Arrest Fare Jumper Who Exposed Himself To Children)
Metra rider Chris Blake also described Staglewicz’s reflexes as “cat-like,” according to ABC7.
WATCH:
Chicago commuter train organization Metra said there was a mechanical issue with the lights above the crossing, according to ABC7. The problem was fixed a few hours after the incident, according to Metra.
“Throughout my life, I’ve had very little luck. I’ve bought tons of raffle tickets, from little league tickets to charity raffles. Every lottery ticket was a loser. I just thought I wasn’t born with luck at all. Little did I know, I had luck, I was just saving it all up for the perfect time,” Staglewicz posted in a statement on Facebook.
“Here is all my luck being used ALL AT ONCE. If I never win anything again, I’m perfectly fine with that,” the statement finished.
The near-miss occurred in November but did not gain media attention until Staglewicz posted the video to Facebook.
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