Lyons Man Killed by BNSF Metra Train in Riverside

A westbound Metra Express train on the center track hit and killed a bicyclist Tuesday around 6:50 p.m. at the Harlem Avenue crossing in Riverside.

Police found the body of Jose Arguello, age 24 of the 7300 block of West Pershing Road in Lyons, laying around the center track between Harlem Avenue and Delaplaine, according to Riverside police.

Railroad traffic was shut down in the area for two and a half hours while police investigated.

They found passengers were getting off an an outbound west Metra commuter train on the far north track at the Harlem Avenue stop, and the train was blocking the Harlem Avenue crossing. Arguello went around the downed railroad gates and was hit by the westbound train on the center track, police say.

The passengers on the Metra train that hit Arguello got off the train at the Delaplaine Road crossing.

“My condolences go out to the family members of Mr. Arguello,” said Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel in a statement. “My detectives made notification to the family and also provided resources for the family and their grieving relatives who lived in the Lyons and Stickney area. The investigation took over 3 hours at the scene as the impact at the crash site was severe and the trauma involved in this situation was extreme.”