Police: Homeless man killed by train
Posted August 21, 2008 11:05 a.m. EDT
Updated August 21, 2008 11:08 a.m. EDT
Fayetteville, N.C. — The body of a homeless man was found Thursday morning on train tracks near Hay Street, police said.
Investigators said they believe Robert Earnest O'Neal, 41, was trying to cross the rail line at Ray Avenue, near the Cumberland County Library, when he tripped. A train then dragged his body 225 feet, where an officer found it early Thursday near the Huske Hardware restaurant, police said.
A Fayetteville Police Department spokeswoman said it's not uncommon to see people climb between cars on slow-moving trains in the area to cross the tracks, but she's not sure if that happened in this case.