PUBLIC SAFETY
About 30 law enforcement officers converged on the Glendale and Burbank railway corridor Tuesday to clamp down on drivers illegally skirting at-grade railroad crossings.
Officers with the Glendale and Burbank police departments, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Metrolink authorities worked in unison on the operation Tuesday in what is a burgeoning countywide campaign to crack down on railroad accidents.
From 7 to 9 a.m., 38 drivers were cited for traffic violations at the railroad crossings between the two cities, 24 of them in Glendale, said Capt. Lief Nicolaisen, of the Glendale Police Department.
For the day, officers issued 81 citations, fewer than the more than 100 that were issued during the same operation last year, said Glendale Police Officer John Balian.
A citation for illegally crossing a railroad requires a fine of $321, Nicolaisen said.
The unidentified driver was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon on an officer, felony pursuit, possessing a stolen car and drug possession after the driver, driving at about 55 mph, allegedly almost struck an officer during the operation at 12:22 p.m., Glendale Police Officer Sherri Servillo said.
It was not immediately clear if the officer was a decoy dressed in civilian clothes being used for the pedestrian sting operation at the Kenwood Street crosswalk.
No police officers were injured in the incident, Servillo said.
The pursuit effectively ended the pedestrian operation in which 44 drivers along Colorado Street were snagged for violating crosswalk safety laws, she said.
The sting operation is part of the city's growing traffic safety program as it tries to cut down on what has remained a persistent problem in the city — pedestrians getting hit by cars, Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams said.
Last year, about 125 pedestrians were involved in traffic collisions throughout Glendale, a three-person increase from 2005, according to a police report.
And in the past two weeks, six people have been hit on the city's roads, Lorenz said, including a 14-year-old girl who was struck by a MTA bus last week when she ran across San Fernando Road against a red light.
