Watch Ind. Police Officer Save Trespasser from Oncoming Train

By Doug Ross

Source The Times, Munster, Ind.

PORTER, IN—Police Officer Thomas Blythe's body cam footage of arresting a trespasser on the train tracks is being used nationally as an example of the right way to handle the situation.

Blythe and Porter Assistant Chief Jason Casbon were called Aug. 1 to look for a person the Norfolk & Southern tracks near Beam Street. Casbon went one way, Blythe the other.

Blythe was heading toward the man lying on the tracks, about 30 to 40 yards away, when he heard the oncoming Amtrak train barreling toward them.

"Dude, there's a train! Get off! Get off, get off, get off!" Blythe can be heard shouting on the video.

"I was very frightened," Blythe said. The trespasser got off the tracks "at the last possible second."

Blythe has been on the Porter Police Department for 12 years and has had to deal with trespassers on railroad property before, but nothing this scary.

For his efforts, Blythe was given a rare lifesaving award from the Federal Railroad Administration and a certificate of appreciation from Indiana Operation Lifesaver.

In the past decade, only seven or eight of the federal awards have been given, said Charlie Mathewson, an investigator with the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad and an Indiana Operation Lifesaver board member.

"It's something that has to have extreme merit," he said.

"We believe the actions of Officer Blythe saved the trespasser's life," FRA employee Tina Blumenberg said.

Mathewson said he viewed Blythe's body cam footage. "I was extremely humbled to hear the events that occurred," he said. Blythe's footage showed he was "doing all the right things."

"It's great that your training kicked in," Mathewson told him.

"We have lots of video of officers doing the wrong thing in a railroad incident," said Jessica Feder, executive director of Indiana Operation Lifesaver.

What Blythe did right was stay off the tracks, which can trip up officers running to the rescue, and away from the right of way as well, Feder said. Had the trespasser been hit by the train, Blythe might have been struck by the carnage, Mathewson added.

Officer safety is first and foremost, Mathewson added.

"I have two young boys at home, and I always want to get home to them" and his wife, Blythe said.

The body cam footage will be used for training nationally. "It's going around the country right now. It's a good piece of footage," Feder said.

"Indiana is notorious for rail safety incidents," Feder said. "We have a lot of railroad traffic and a lot of railroad tracks," helping the state live up to its motto as the crossroads of America.

The state has a high number of trespass incidents involving railroad tracks, some of them attempts at suicide by rail, Feder said. Last year, Indiana saw eight trespasser deaths and 10 injuries, she added.

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