A Turlock man well-known among residents of the west side and in the downtown area was struck and killed Thursday afternoon when he stepped in front of a train.
The deceased was identified by the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office as Antonio “Pickle” Moreno, 45, of Turlock.
The investigation into Moreno’s death is ongoing, but appears to be a suicide.
Around 2:40 p.m. the Turlock Police Department received multiple calls regarding a train versus pedestrian collision at the intersection of N. Golden State Boulevard and E. Olive Avenue.
“Officers were quickly on scene and confirmed a male adult had been hit by the train and was pronounced deceased at the scene,” said Turlock Police Lt. James Silveira.
Devin Bradley was in his car at the intersection waiting for the train to pass when Moreno was struck.
Moreno was next to the railroad crossings, “looking as if he was going to wait for it to pass,” Bradley described on the Journal’s Instagram account. “But then at the last second he jumped in front [of the train].
“He was showing no sign he was going to do what he did,” Bradley wrote.
The Union Pacific train was traveling at an estimated 60 miles per hour when Moreno was hit. The intersections between Olive and Marshall were closed until about 5 p.m. Thursday.
Moreno, who went by the nickname of Pickle, had been homeless in Turlock for some time. He had a reputation among residents and business people as being a kind and friendly sort who didn’t back away from helping those that he could.
“When I was younger I lived on the west side and if he ever saw me walking he would never let me walk alone. I didn’t matter if he had somewhere to go,” wrote Theresa Tschantz on the Journal’s Facebook page.
“Pickle was a trooper — never wanted handouts, always paid what he borrowed,” Barbi Trevino commented.
Trevino began a GoFundMe page for donations to pay for the funeral. In her post she states Moreno had been battling an illness recently. The link for the GoFundMe is https://www.gofundme.com/s93xg-funeral-donations.
