Amtrak hits truck, kills Oconomowoc man

Dec. 29, 2011
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By Larry Sandler of the Journal Sentinel

Dec. 29, 2011 0

An Oconomowoc man was killed when an Amtrak train hit his truck at a Jefferson County railroad crossing Thursday, according to the Sheriff's Department and the national passenger railroad.

Jefferson County Sheriff Paul Milbrath said Michael Dragan, 44, had driven down a private driveway that crosses the tracks in the Town of Ixonia, when the train struck his 2007 Chevrolet truck about 4:42 p.m. The county coroner's office pronounced Dragan dead at the scene.

No one was injured aboard the westbound Empire Builder, which was carrying 326 passengers, plus crew members, on its daily trip between Chicago and Seattle, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said. The train was stopped at the scene for about four hours while local authorities investigated the crash.

About Larry Sandler

Larry Sandler has been writing about government, politics, transportation, business and education in Wisconsin and Illinois for more than 25 years. He joined the Milwaukee Sentinel's staff as a general assignment reporter in 1982, after covering county government, politics and business for The Pantagraph of Bloomington-Normal, Ill. At the Sentinel, he reported on higher education, the Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee County government and the manufacturing and transportation industries. After the April 1995 merger of the Sentinel and the Milwaukee Journal, Sandler became the transportation reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and from May 2001 to May 2007, he also wrote the weekly Road Warrior column. His investigation into flaws in aviation security earned a first-place award in the Milwaukee Press Club’s 2004 Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism Contest. Sandler was named City Hall reporter in June 2007 and continues to cover public transit issues as well. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

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