Staff report
CHINA GROVE ó A pair of warrants have been drawn, but not served, on a China Grove man who may have been hit by a train Thursday night.
A story in Monday’s Post stated that Gene Edward Kirby had been charged by a Norfolk Southern police officer with trespassing on a railroad right of way.On Monday, China Grove Police Chief Hodge Coffield said the warrants have been issued, but not served. He said Kirby, 41, hasn’t been charged because he remains in the intensive care unit at Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast in Concord.
A spokesman for Carolinas Medical Center said Kirby was in critical condition at the hospital Monday afternoon.
Coffield said Kirby was “very highly intoxicated” the night of the accident, too inebriated for officers to interview. He said officers are not sure if Kirby was struck by a train or if he was injured when he fell down an embankment at the site.
Kirby was found late Thursday lying along railroad tracks behind Amvets Post 565, on U.S. 29 South across from Porky’s restaurant.Coffield said Kirby suffered a shoulder injury, broken ribs and a cut to the back of his head.
“We’re not 100 percent sure he was hit,” Coffield said of Kirby. “He may have fallen down a hill. We can’t get in to interview him until he’s out of ICU.”
Coffield also said that the address listed for Kirby on the warrant is incorrect. He said Kirby lives on the streets of China Grove.