Prosecutor: No immediate charges in Southern California train crash

OXNARD — A decision on whether charges should be brought against a truck driver involved in a crash that derailed a California commuter train will not be made until the investigation is complete, Ventura County's top prosecutor said Thursday.

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten cited the complexity of the investigation and number of agencies involved in announcing that no charges would immediately be filed against Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez, 54, of Yuma, Arizona.

Totten said, however, that the Oxnard Police Department acted properly in arresting Ramirez for investigation of leaving the scene of an injury accident under state hit-and-run law.

In a text message, Ramirez's attorney, Ron Bamieh, said his client will be released from jail but provided no details pending an afternoon news conference.

Three of five Metrolink train cars derailed and 30 people were injured, four critically, in the Tuesday pre-dawn crash.

Ramirez's attorney has said his client accidentally turned onto the tracks and made repeated attempts to get the vehicle off the rails, and then ran for his life as the train approached.

Police said Ramirez was found 45 minutes after the crash 1.6 miles away, though Bamieh said he was only a half-mile away and that he has phone records that show he spoke with police much sooner.

Police said Ramirez did not call 911 and made no immediate effort to call for help. But Bamieh said Ramirez, who doesn't speak English well, tried to get help from a passerby, attempted to call his employer, and eventually reached his son to help him speak with police.

Police would not discuss drug and alcohol test results, but Bamieh said he was told there was no sign Ramirez was impaired.

National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said Wednesday that investigators have not ruled out that the truck was somehow stranded and will determine why it traveled 80 feet down the tracks and remained there with its parking brake engaged.

Ramirez had a drunken driving conviction in Arizona in 1998 and a pair of traffic citations. Bamieh said the citations were minor and the DUI was too old to be relevant to the current circumstances.