Man seriously injured trying to cross railroad before train passed

SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) — State police said a Somerset man has been seriously injured after he tried to drive his car through a railroad crossing before a train passed.

Troopers said 43-year-old Brian Ronald Trent was injured just before 10 a.m. Tuesday at a crossing in Somerset Township.

Witnesses told police that railroad crossing lights were flashing when Trent drove his car across the tracks and was struck on its passenger side by a CSX freight train. The car spun along the tracks before the rear of the vehicle was also hit by the train.

He was flown to Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, where hospital officials say he was undergoing surgery Tuesday afternoon.

Police said in a news release that Trent suffered unspecified serious injuries.