A 44-year-old man who was hit and killed by an Amtrak train in Santa Barbara on Wednesday has been identified as Jason Perea of Citrus Heights, area police confirmed yesterday.
In a news release authored by Santa Barbara Police Sgt. Joshua Morton, police said officers responded to the fatal collision around 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 22, located at a railroad crossing near downtown Santa Barbara. Perea was pronounced dead at the scene and taken to the coroner’s office.
Sgt. Morton said officers believe it appeared Perea “attempted to cross the tracks in front of the train,” which was traveling southbound. He said witness accounts also indicate Perea “appeared to have attempted to beat the train across the intersection.”
Several news reports from the region indicate Perea had been living as a transient for the past year, but was from Citrus Heights. In an email to The Sentinel late Friday night, Sgt. Morton also confirmed the coroner had identified the man as Jason Thomas Perea of Citrus Heights.
Amtrak Spokeswoman Chelsea Kopta told KSBY-Santa Barbara that the Coast Starlight train involved in the collision operates between Seattle and Los Angeles. She said the train had “struck a person that was trespassing on the tracks in the Santa Barbara area,” and reported no injuries to the train’s passengers or crew.
