Trolley Severs Right Foot of Jobless Man

An unemployed man rushing to a job interview was hit by a trolley in Southeast San Diego on Wednesday, and his right foot was severed.

Robert Andes, 20, was in serious but stable condition at Mercy Hospital, where officials said he was also being treated for cuts and bruises.

Andes was hit in the back by the El Cajon-bound trolley about 8:35 a.m. and was caught underneath the right set of wheels, witnesses said.

Michael Buchanan, 27, of San Diego had walked out of a state unemployment office with Andes just minutes before the accident.

Buchanan had just stopped in a coffee shop, he said, from where he heard repeated warning sounds by the trolley, which was slowing to about 5 to 10 m.p.h. as it approached the Encanto-62nd Street Station.

“The gates were down, the lights were flashing, the whole bit,” Buchanan said. “Apparently the driver saw the man, and was trying to warn him off there. But I guess he was trying to beat it across the tracks.”

Jerrilove Crockett, 35, an off-duty San Diego police officer who also saw the accident, said the trolley twisted Andes to the right, caught his right foot and sucked him underneath, pinning him by the right leg.

The Fire and Police departments were notified at 8:36 a.m., and both had crews at the scene within minutes, Police Sgt. George Dowden said.

The crews spent the next half hour trying to release Andes, using air bags and other equipment to lift the trolley, Dowden said.

He was freed just after 10 a.m., Dowden said. Police were investigating.