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Jose Odelino Gonzalez Valdez, 42, of Manassas Park, has been charged with reckless driving, for his role in the fatal crash that took the life of 26-year-old Manassas resident Emerson Lisandro Martinez Mejia earlier this month.
The crash was reported shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 6, when Gonzalez Valdez's Chevrolet Silvarado was struck by the train on James Madison Avenue near Kapp Valley Way in Haymarket.
The investigation into the crash determined that the driver of the truck failed to come to rest at a posted stop sign prior to the railroad crossing and proceeded to cross over the tracks where it was then struck by a passing cargo train.
Investigators said that the impact of the crash caused the truck to land upright several hundred feet from the railroad crossing in an easement of the railroad tracks.
Fire and rescue personnel responded and Martinez Mejia, a passenger in the truck, was pronounced dead at the scene. Gonzalez Valdez was extricated and airlifted to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
No other injuries were reported.
Gonzalez Valdez's court date is pending.
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