Blue Earth County attorney says charges unlikely

By Dan Linehan

MANKATO — A State Patrol investigation into the July 13 train collision that killed two Blue Earth County highway workers found the driver didn’t stop at a sign and didn’t notice the train until it was too late.

County Attorney Ross Arneson said it’s unlikely any charges will be filed as a result of the crash, which killed Jack M. Baker, 42, of Le Center and Todd J. Ziegler, 43, of Mankato.

One of the train’s conductors, 23-year-old Tom Ray Cieluch, described the accident in an interview with an investigator: “...he just let it roll into gear and like he wasn’t racing the train or anything he just was slowly rolling across the railroad tracks.”

The train was approaching the passenger side of the truck and Cieluch said the passenger, Ziegler, was looking at the driver and “didn’t even know we were there.”

Data from the train showed the whistles were blown for 12 seconds before the collision, in accordance with rules for intersections without electronic crossing devices. The train was traveling 43 mph, an acceptable speed for track of this type.

The eyewitness accounts of the county truck are unanimous: it slowed, but did not stop, as it approached the tracks on County Road 112 near Lake Crystal.

Baker had been having hearing problems, his supervisor Joe Styndl told investigators. The supervisor had noticed the problem in the spring, said it was getting worse and advised Baker to have it checked out, according to the report.

Baker had sent and received text messages the day of the crash but it’s not at all clear if they played a role in the accident.

Nurses at the Hennepin County Medical Center found Baker’s cell phone and went through its text messages to find a next of kin to notify about his condition.

Gabe Cornish, a State Patrol trooper, spoke with hospital personnel and reported there “may have been cell phone use at or near the time of the crash.”

Baker’s wife said her text messages were sent at about noon, more than three hours before the crash.

The State Patrol, however, was one day too late in its request from Alltel to turn over texting records.

In a July 23 letter, an Alltel employee said they only keep texts for seven days, including the current day. When the county asked for the texts on July 20 the company only had the data through July 14, one day after the crash.

Call logs were still available and show no activity at the time of the crash.

The county truck also contained a data recorder that tracks location and speed every 30 seconds. Its final recording, at 3:44:03 p.m., shows a speed of 5 mph. The two previous recordings show readings of 0 mph and the four before that are in the high single digits.

Drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the crash.

While the intersection offers good visibility, the lack of gates has raised safety concerns before, according to Justin Nissen, a 34-year-old engineer who was on the train.

“We’ve had many close calls there before. There’s no gates, no lights. There’s just a stop sign there.”

The accident occured while the employees were on duty but traffic accidents are investigated by the State Patrol, not Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The Free Press was unable to reach attorney Scott Kelly, who is representing Ziegler’s family. There are no criminal charges filed but that does not rule out a civil case.

The crash has produced one positive legacy: County Engineer Al Forsberg is helping to craft legislation to speed up safety upgrades at rail intersections around the state.