CHILI, N.Y. -- A 20-year-old Town of Chili employee was killed Monday morning when his car was hit by a train on King Road in Chili.
Police said Brandon Sauer was on his way to work when, just before 6 a.m., he arrived at the railroad crossing. According to Monroe County Sheriff's deputies, witnesses said the gates had come down and the lights were flashing. Witnesses said Sauer drove around another car stopped in front of him and around the gates, when his car was hit by an Amtrak train.
"It's bad enough that a young person lost their life in such a horrific accident it makes it even worse when they're one of our employees," said Town Supervisor David Dunning.
"In the parks department, they are a tight group of people. They are a family."
Sauer was just starting out in his career with the Parks Department. His father works for the Highway Department and brother who is a volunteer fireman in town.
No one will ever really know why Brandon went around the gates, but some say those who drive frequently in the area ignore the warnings because the gates do come down when there are no trains around.
Dunning said he has taken reports from residents about faulty gates at that crossing before and has reported those to CSX. He says it's never worth the risk to go around gates when they're down.
"Unfortunately, this is a tragedy that shouldn't have occurred and you have to respect the crossing gates, and when they're down, that means don't cross," Dunning said.
According to CSX, at this time there's nothing to indicate the signal at that crossing wasn't working properly. The company is looking into whether it has received reports of malfunctioning gates.
Dunning said the flags outside town hall will fly at half staff to remember Brandon Sauer.
The train from Niagara Falls was headed to New York City and deputies say, traveling under the speed limit. No passengers were hurt.