Man Arrested Seven Months After Train Death

Driver Nathan Schrock turns himself in after $50,000 warrant was
issued
Morgan Hill – Seven months after the accident that killed 18-year-old Gilroy resident Jackie Gamboa, a Morgan Hill man was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving resulting in manslaughter.

Nathan Schrock, 21, turned himself in to San Jose police Thursday, after a $50,000 warrant was issued for his arrest. He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail, later posted bail and is waiting for his arraignment scheduled for Sept. 19 in San Martin.

“We put a lot of work into this case,” Morgan Hill police Sgt. Mark Brazeal said Thursday. “It was frustrating at times, waiting for toxicology reports, waiting for things to come together … I’m very glad the District Attorney’s office decided to file charges at the felony level.”

Police said Schrock was driving his GMC Sonoma southbound on Railroad Avenue about 7pm, Jan 22 with Gamboa in the passenger’s seat. When he reached Tennant Avenue, he saw the railroad arms down for an oncoming northbound freight train. 

Apparently deciding to cross the tracks at a different intersection, Schrock and the driver of a truck in front of him, both made U-turns and headed north on Railroad Avenue. Police believe he was trying to beat the train to the next intersection north of Tennant, San Pedro Avenue. 

But when Schrock and the other driver arrived at San Pedro, the gates were already down, and the driver of the other truck was in front of Schrock. 

Witnesses said Schrock appeared impatient and drove around the pickup, then around the railroad arms. The driver of the pickup in front of Schrock told police he yelled for Schrock to stop upon seeing a another train – a commuter train – southbound on parallel tracks toward the intersection.

Police said the engineer of the southbound train tried to stop, but did not have enough room, and the train plowed into the pickup Gamboa and Schrock were in, splitting the truck in half and hurling Gamboa from the cab. The bed of the truck flew 150 feet down the tracks.

Gamboa was pronounced dead at the scene. Schrock suffered serious injuries, including trauma to the head and a gash on his thigh. He was flown to Regional Medical Center, where he recovered consciousness the following day.

Brazeal said any case involving a fatality is complicated, and thorough investigations are standard. This case, he said, involved railroad officials as well as law enforcement agencies, and the data collected was extremely technical.

From the perspective of the community, he said, the wait until charges were filed may have seemed unwarranted, but the severity of the case necessitated that investigators left nothing out in the case eventually presented to the District Attorney’s Office. 

Brazeal said he hopes that people who hear about the case will have more respect for railroad crossing warnings.

“The lights and crossing arms are there for a reason,” Brazeal said. “It is very rare that they are activated without a train coming through shortly after. There is just not time to safely go around those arms.”