Engineer texted with teens before crash, CBS2 says
Kevin Roderick • September 13 2008 11:22 PM

Channel 2 aired reports tonight showing text messages reportedly sent by Metrolink contract engineer Robert Sanchez just before his train crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train, killing at least 25 and injuring 135. One of the texts was received about a minute before Friday's crash, which apparently occurred when the engineer failed to stop at a red light. Channel 2 interviewed on camera a few Chatsworth-area teenagers, train aficionados who showed the texts and said they regularly conversed with Sanchez. His name has not been officially released, but friends and neighbors in La Crescenta say he died in the crash. The NTSB will now look into whether the engineer was distracted while running the train. A YouTube tribute reportedly posted by one of the teenagers has been removed, but another user has posted a video.

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