By james art A San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy had a split second to act to save a child from an oncoming train.
“I knew something was going on and something had to be done quickly,” Deputy Michael Castaneda said.
Cellphone video shows Castanada on a rural road in Redlands picking up the child as the train zooms dangerously close to them.
“As soon as he dropped that kid off, I heard the horn and for me that was the start of the race,” he said. “I started running to get this kid out of there.”
The railroad crossing is at Live Oak Canyon and San Timoteo. Casteneda said he was behind the car on the tracks when the gate began to close.
“It started to process very quickly in my head what was going on, especially when I saw the car trying to maneuver to the side of the road and ended up stuck in the gravel,” he said.
The driver was trapped, but instead of running away from the moving train, Castenada said he saw her get back into the car.
“At that point it dawned on me pretty quickly that there was probably a child or another passenger in the vehicle and that train was coming very close,” he said.
The mother took a child to the ground and got back into the car for a second child.
“Time slowed down, but it was only seconds,” Castenada said.
The video then shows the deputy lifting the child to the ground and running away, while the mother runs in the opposite direction with the other child.
“I think it was the perfect time for me to be somewhere,” Castenada said.
The off-duty aide was on his way home, but said the Marine veteran said he didn’t question his actions.
“What I do for my job, what I’ve done in the past, is just help people,” he said.