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Authorities ID Train Fatality

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2007

Updated: 10/31/2007 08:25 am

TAMPA - A man killed when his pickup stopped on the tracks as an Amtrak train approached on Sunday has been identified as Stanley Pinder, 69, of Brandon.

Pinder's Dalmatian, Freckles, was with him at the time and also was killed on impact, authorities said.

Investigators say Pinder may have stopped deliberately on the tracks.

'Some witnesses we've talked to say the man may have stopped purposefully on the tracks,' Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said. 'We're not sure. We're still investigating.'

Pinder co-owned Gaspar's Cigar Shop on West Shore Boulevard.

Deputies said Pinder, of 4128 Alafia Blvd., was identified through dental records and fingerprints.

Identification efforts took nearly 24 hours. Deputies released the name Monday afternoon.

The crash occurred on a private drive off Broadway Avenue between Falkenburg Road and Queen Palm Drive, Callaway said. Pinder pulled onto the tracks, facing south, and was in the driver's seat when the truck was struck broadside by the westbound locomotive.

He died at the scene. Two passengers on the train, which was en route from Miami to Tampa, complained of minor pains but were not hospitalized. The train carried 144 passengers, Callaway said.

The train was traveling about 50 mph, he said.

Pinder and Davelis 'D.C.' Goutoufas opened Gaspar's Cigar Shop at 3675 S. West Shore Blvd. on July 4. The business offers cigars from humidors, along with private lockers and rooms for smoking, playing cards and dominoes.

'It's sad news,' Goutoufas said Monday. 'It's very sad news right now, unexpected. He was a good friend, and I'll miss him a lot. He was a great man.'

From 1997 through July, there were 34 fatal incidents at crossings in Hillsborough, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.

For the same period there were 30 in Polk County, nine in Pasco County and none in Pinellas County.

Pinder was the third person killed at a railroad crossing in Hillsborough County since 2004, a period when 28 accidents were recorded here, officials said.

In July, an Amtrak train derailed near Plant City after it collided with a truck, killing the driver. A day earlier, a train hit a vehicle and killed four people in Lakeland.

Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at kmorelli@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7760.

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