2 Honored for Rescuing Driver From Train Tracks
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The City Council has honored two motorists who pulled a big-rig driver to safety moments before the cab of his truck was hit by a Metrolink train.
Jared Naab and Pablo Ordonez were honored by the council this week with proclamations presented by Mayor Betty Lowes.
The pair, along with other bystanders, pulled driver Raymond E. Shoppell, 43, of Newark, Texas, from his 18-wheeler July 1 after it careened down a hill off the westbound San Bernardino Freeway, and onto the Metrolink tracks east of Baldwin Park Boulevard.
Less than a minute after the driver was rescued a Metrolink train bound for San Bernardino with 450 passengers tore the truck’s cab to pieces. No one on the train was injured. Shoppell broke his foot when his truck skidded out of control.
Officials said Naab and Ordonez, who were driving along the freeway when they saw the truck tumble down the embankment, ran down the hill to pull the driver free from his cab, not stopping to worry about their own safety.
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