Why Did Kennewick Driver Abandon Car on Railroad Tracks?

Authorities are still trying to determine what a 36-year-old Kennewick man was doing driving across a field in the first place, before getting his car struck by a train.

Around 5:10 AM Sunday morning, Kennewick police were alerted by residents in the vicinity of West Canal Drive and North Yost St. about a car that was stuck on the Burlington Northern railroad tracks.

Just about the time officers arrived, a slow-moving freight train came by and demolished the vehicle!  Fortunately, it was not occupied.

Officers learned from witnesses that the driver, identified as Richard W. Singrey, was driving his vehicle across the field, tried to cross the tracks, and got stuck.  He abandoned the car but had fled as officers were arriving.

He then returned to the scene around 6:30 as cleanup efforts were continuing.  Crews were trying to get the wreckage out of the way as the length of the train was blocking other crossings, including the one on Edison St. by Kamiakin High School.

Singrey was arrested for trespassing and hit and run, he is in the Benton County Jail.  Authorities have not said why he was driving across the field.