ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 2, 1996 TAG: 9610020066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER
A 39-year-old Pulaski man who fell asleep next to some railroad tracks was seriously injured Tuesday when his legs were snagged by a passing freight train as he tried to move.
Richard Dean Gregory was transferred from Columbia Pulaski Community Hospital to a Roanoke hospital shortly before midnight after his condition stabilized from guarded to critical, a nursing supervisor said. Both of his legs were broken, and police said both wrists and a hip might have been broken as well.
The accident happened about 6:20 p.m. near a crossing used only by Norfolk Southern personnel, Pulaski police Officer A.K. Anderson said. The closest streets are Dora Highway and Holly Street.
Gregory apparently walked along the tracks and decided to take a nap, Anderson said. He had been drinking.
Engineers saw something lying beside the tracks on the ties as they approached, but they couldn't tell what it was, Anderson said. When they saw Gregory clearly, it was too late to stop.
Gregory woke up and tried to move out of the way, but as he lifted his legs, the train carried him away, Anderson said. The train dragged Gregory 10 to 15 feet and rolled another 1,200 feet before it stopped.
Engineers told police that if Gregory had lain still, the train might not have hit him.
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