The quick thinking of a 17-year-old and a captain on the police force saved the life of an 80-year-old tourist whose car stalled on the Downeaster’s tracks yesterday morning in Old Orchard Beach.
According to police reports, James Laboke ran into the Pier Street police station at 6 a.m. Monday and reported seeing a car stalled on the tracks and a man, who appeared unconscious, slumped over the steering wheel. The car’s engine was still running and the doors were locked. Laboke reportedly pounded on the window but received no response from the driver.
Laboke, a Sudanese refugee, said there was never any question about what he should do.
“I never thought about it,” he said. “I just knew I couldn’t let that man get crushed by a train.”
Janket Paradiso, a captain on the town police force, was a mile away from the railroad crossing when she heard the call on the radio about the stranded vehicle.
“I knew there was no time,” Paradiso said later. “I had to do something.”
Brian Paul, Chief of Police, said Paradiso rammed her police cruiser into the 1987 Cadillac and pushed it from the tracks. Thirty seconds later, a train passed by.
“It was that close,” said Paul.
The Downeaster is a passenger train operated by Amtrak that runs from Portland, Maine to Boston, and makes a stop in Old Orchard Beach during the summer.
The man in the car was Francois Truffaut, a tourist from Quebec City, Canada. He is listed as being in stable condition at Southern Maine Medical Center.
“I don’t remember a thing,” Truffaut said.
Police believe Truffaut, who is diabetic, may have gone into insulin shock just as he reached the railroad crossing.
Traffaut said he has been coming to Old Orchard Beach, a summer tourist community on the southern Maine seacoast, since he was a child.
He can thank one of the workers in the tourist industry for his narrow escape.
Laboke is a waiter at the Eezy Breezy Restaurant on East Grand Street and was on his way to the restaurant when he came across Truffaut.
Charles Champaigne, Laboke’s boss, said Laboke reported to work on time and didn’t even mention the incident.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Champaigne. “That young man is one of my most responsible employees. He’s just a great kid.”
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