There have been 19 calls for service since August 2014 about the crossing gates on Ohio 747 near Union Centre Boulevard in West Chester Twp., according to records obtained by the Journal-News.
The calls for service include the crossing gates being down with no trains in sight, trains that were stopped in the crossing, and trains that stopped too close to the crossing and activated the gates, backing up traffic.
In one case, police were asked to help traffic move around the crossing gates by a semi-truck driver on Aug. 17, less than an hour after police were called about a down crossing gate.
Last May, a Lakota Local Schools representative asked if police could help a school bus around the down crossing gate.
Just last month, there were two other calls — on Aug. 3 and Aug. 5 — about the crossing gates being down without a train in sight.
And just two days after last month’s fatal crash, a call was made about the crossing gate being stuck.
In the Aug. 23 incident Rakan Shteiwi, 70, of Liberty Twp., “drove around the crossing gates which were down and properly functioning,” according to a crash report obtained by the Journal-News.
Norfolk Southern, which maintains that rail crossing, has not returned calls for comment.
UPDATE, Aug. 24:
The man who died from injuries after his SUV collided with a train in West Chester Twp. was part of a family of Butler County restaurateurs.
Rakan Shteiwi, 70, of Liberty Twp., died from injuries sustained in the crash Tuesday, according to a West Chester Twp. spokeswoman.
This marks the second time this year that tragedy has struck the Shteiwi family, who own several restaurants in Butler County, including Mia Restaurant and Dipaolos Catering in Oxford; Spinning Fork and Gold Star Chili in Middletown; and Spinning Fork in Fairfield.
Earlier this year, Nazif Shteiwi, 61, and his wife, Halla Odeh Shteiwi, 55, both of Fairfield, died in a head-on crash after an intoxicated driver went the wrong way on Interstate 75.
Rakan Shteiwi was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from his black 2004 Infiniti SUV when it was struck by the CSX train heading southeast, according to Barb Wilson, West Chester Twp. spokeswoman.
Drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the crash, she said.
Police also confirmed that the railroad crossing gates were functioning properly at the time of the crash.
A manager at the Spinning Fork in Middletown, who declined to be identified, referred questions to the Shteiwi family. However, he said, “It’s sad because he’s a good guy, a very good guy, and he will be missed.”
West Chester police responded just after 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to a 911 call and found the SUV was hit broadside and pushed into a nearby tree line by a train on railroad tracks along Ohio 747 between McKenzie Court and Port Union Road.
Sgt. Todd Campbell said it took the train “awhile” to stop after the collision. He did not know what the train was transporting or the number of cars in the train.
Ohio 747 was closed for a few hours between Port Union Road and Union Centre Boulevard while police completed their work.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration’s safety database, there have been seven crashes of vehicles and trains since 1983. The last fatality at that railroad crossing was on June 14, 1986. The FRA also recorded three of those crashes had injuries on Nov. 2, 1983; Aug. 28, 1986; and June 28, 2014.
Tuesday’s incident was the fourth crash and the first fatality at a Butler County railroad crossing in 2016, according to Matt Schilling, spokesman for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s rail division.
The last fatality at a railrad crossing in Butler County was in July 2015 in Middletown at the 14th Avenue crossing. A van carrying 11 people went through a crossing gate, killing one person and injuring 10 others as they were picking up people to attend an evening vacation bible school at a local church. The case against the driver is pending in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
Schilling said between 2009 through 2015 in Butler County, there have been 30 crashes with three crashes each having a fatality as well as 11 crashes that has injured 21 people.
EARLIER REPORT:
West Chester Twp. police are investigating if crossing gates were working correctly after a man was seriously injured when an SUV and a train collided.
Police responded just after 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to a 911 call and found a black Infiniti SUV hit broadside and pushed into a nearby tree line by a train on railroad tracks along Ohio 747 between McKenzie Court and Port Union Road.
“We are determining why the car was in the crossing when the train was coming through,” Sgt. Todd Campbell said. “There are crossing gates there and right now that’s part of the investigation, to see and make sure they were functioning correctly or if the car went around them or what the cause of the accident might be.”
One man was critically injured in the crash and was transported to West Chester Hospital.
Campbell said it took the train “awhile” to stop after the collision. He did not know what the train was transporting or the number of cars in the train.
He said he could not recall a previous crash at that crossing. A traffic safety unit was at the scene and was mapping evidence.
Ohio 747 was closed for a few hours between Port Union Road and Union Centre Boulevard while police completed their work.
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