Man says he was hit by train while walking on tracks

SUMMERVILLE — A man says he was run over by a train Thursday night and lived to tell about it.

Christopher Ryan Coleman, 26, was texting his wife while walking along the railroad tracks across the street from the Icehouse Bar at 104 E. Doty Ave., according to a Summerville police report.

Coleman, who according to the report smelled of alcohol and was slurring his speech, told officers that he was walking along the tracks about 11 p.m. when he saw a light approaching.

Next thing he knew, he was “sucked under” the moving locomotive, the report says.

“I was hit by the ... train,” the report quotes Coleman as saying. “I remember laying between the rails. I remember seeing the train pass over me, and I could feel the rails moving. I put my head against one rail, and my feet against the other.

“I didn’t really believe in God until tonight.”

The train engineer told police that he saw a suspect lying on the tracks and that the person didn’t appear to move as the train approached and passed by.

Coleman told police he believes the train’s caboose struck his knee and that when the train had passed he started screaming for his friends to help.

Coleman’s right knee and left index finger were purple and swollen, according to the report. He also had numerous scrapes, cuts and bruises on his head and back.

He was treated at Summerville Medical Center for his injuries and then taken to the Dorchester County Detention Center on a charge of disorderly conduct. Norfolk Southern Police also charged him with trespassing on a railroad right of way.

Coleman was unavailable for comment this morning. He is still in jail awaiting a bond hearing.

Reach Andy Paras at 937-5589, aparas@postandcourier.com or on Twitter at twitter.com/andyparas.