Witnesses told ABC7 the Amtrak train collided with the car moments after a group of good Samaritans helped the driver get out of his vehicle that was stuck on the tracks in Morton Grove. However, when police responded to the scene, the driver ended up in custody.
Morton Grove police say Malecki was drunk behind the wheel. The Mount Prospect man was arrested and charged with DUI.
The debris from the crash was cleared from the tracks Friday but the near-tragedy in Morton Grove still lingers with witness David Murphy
"It didn't slow down. It didn't stop," witness David Murphy said. "I mean, I don't think it could."
Murphy had just gotten off a Metra train as he was on his way home Thursday night.
"It just went right through the car," Murphy said. "I was probably one of the first people of that group, and before us a car crossed right before us, not in the in the intersection, but across the grass, on to the tracks, and kind of flipped parallel with the southbound track."
Police said 56-year-old Pawel Malecki was driving when he hit a parked vehicle on nearby Lehigh Avenue before barreling on the tracks, and his Acura become disabled.
"As we got close to the car, he was still in there trying to mess around with it on the southbound track," Murphy said. "So, we started yelling at him, 'You've got to get out of your car.' One of the Metra passengers grabbed him and helped him walk off the tracks."
Just minutes after Malecki was pulled to safety, he was speaking with officers who initially responded to a reckless driving complaint.
"The first Amtrak train that came through was moving pretty quick," Murphy said. "I mean, I don't know how fast the Amtrak goes. It felt 50, 60 miles per hour, and hit the car."
Thankfully, no one else was in the car when the Amtrak train split the vehicle in half.
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Police said Malecki is no longer in custody. He's due in court in Skokie in December.
"He'll have other stuff to deal with, but he gets to see another day," Murphy said.