SIMI VALLEY MAN DIES AFTER TOSSING ROPE AT TRAIN

POSTED: 9:19 am PST February 18, 2004

LOS ANGELES -- A 43-year-old man tossed a rope into the path of a freight train, 
apparently on a lark, and was killed after becoming entangled in the rope and being 
dragged by the train, authorities said.

Alan Pichel Sr. was hanging out with his 17-year-old son near the train tracks 
Monday evening when he threw a bottle tied to a shopping cart into the train's path, 
said John Bromley, a spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad.

"Apparently, they wanted to watch the shopping cart be dragged along by the train," 
Bromley said. 

Authorities said it remains unclear exactly how Pichel became entangled, though 
police Sgt. Joe May said the man's death was the result of "a strange chain of 
events."

"I've heard about people getting hit by the train, or people committing suicide by 
stepping in front of the train, but nothing like this," May said.

Police stopped the train, which was moving about 15 mph, after about a mile. 
Coroner's officials said an autopsy showed Pichel, a Simi Valley resident, died 
from multiple blunt-force injuries.

Pichel's son, Alan Jr., said Tuesday that he and his father "weren't even that 
close to the tracks."

"He just didn't see it coming and it caught him. It happened so fast," he said, 
adding that his father liked to joke around. "He was just the funniest guy," the 
teen said. "He was a character."