By Brian Ward

Old Orchard Beach- Police officers were alerted this morning about a man who passed out in his car on the railroad tracks.  A police officer at the scene rammed her cruiser into the stopped vehicle, pushing out of the way moments before the train hit.

17-year-old James Laboke, an employee at the Eezy Breezy restaurant in Old Orchard Beach, came across a car stopped on the railroad tracks, with the engine still running and driver seemingly unconscious. After unsuccessfully trying to rouse the driver, Laboke ran 100 yards to the police station to warn them.

 Capt. Janet Paradiso was the first officer to arrive at the crossing. As she was arriving at the scene, she heard the approaching train whistle. Paradiso rammed the pink Cadillac Seville off the tracks with her police cruiser, seconds before the train sped through the crossing at 40 mph. “I knew there was no time. I had to do something.” Paradiso said.  

The man inside the car, 80-year-old Francois Truffaut, is in stable condition at Southern Maine Medical Center. “I don’t remember a thing.” Truffaut said. The police believe that Truffaut, who is diabetic, might have gone into insulin shock on the railroad tracks. Truffaut, a native of Canada, has been coming down to visit Old Orchard Beach since he was a child.