WASHINGTON – The Ventura County District Attorney in California has filed a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter against a pickup truck driver who crashed into and derailed a commuter train there last year.
Gregory Totten announced the charge Monday against Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez. The Feb. 24, 2015, crash resulted in the death of train engineer Glenn William Steele and injured 34 others in Oxnard, California.
The 54-year-old from Yuma, Arizona, was initially jailed before being released.
His attorney didn't immediately respond to a phone messages from The Associated Press for comment.
Sanchez-Ramirez turned right prematurely onto train tracks in what the National Transportation Safety Board termed a "mistake" during the dark early morning hours.
If found guilty, he faces up to a year in jail.
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