Train Hits Abandoned Vehicle West of Effingham Overnight

A freight train struck a vehicle abandoned on the tracks west of Effingham early Saturday morning.

The incident was reported at 12:48am on the CSX crossing at Lake Sara Road near Putnam Trucking, just north off US 40.  State police report a SUV had been abandoned on the tracks and was struck by the freight train.  Authorities later located the driver of the abandoned vehicle, 31-year-old Wallace A. Darko, Jr. of Effingham.  Darko was arrested on counts of DUI, criminal trespass to a vehicle, driving while his license is revoked, and reckless driving.  He was taken to Effingham County Jail.

No one on the freight train was injured.