By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
On the south side of the intersection of South Halstead Road and West Old Highway 40, a Salina resident left a red 1998 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck on the railroad tracks.
Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said shortly before 12:15 a.m. this morning, a train struck the empty vehicle and reported the crash to Saline County.
"It had been parked on the tracks facing eastbound when the train came from the west and struck it from behind," Soldan said. "Deputies checked the area and located the driver."
Shortly after deputies arrived on the scene, they located 25-year-old Mackenzie Lewis, a Salina resident, around 12:38 a.m., just more than a mile away at the intersection of West Old Highway 40 and Interstate 135.
Soldan said deputies were unable to identify Lewis' reasons for parking the vehicle on the tracks but found drug paraphernalia and some methamphetamine in the truck and on Lewis. He also had no proof of insurance.
Deputies arrested Lewis and requested charges for drug possession, drug paraphernalia, parking in a prohibited place and no proof of insurance.