Lake County train fatality identified as Naval recruit

A man struck and killed by a Metra commuter train Saturday has been identified as a Navy recruit from Alabama. The Lake County coroner says his blood-alcohol level was more than triple the legal limit.

Twenty-two-year-old Matthew Hicks of Alabama was crossing railroad tracks in Highwood at about 2 a.m. Saturday when he was struck by a northbound train.

Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis says Hicks was one of three men who crossed in front of the train in an area that was not a designated crossing. Hicks was the last to cross the tracks and was struck.

Lake County Coroner Richard Keller says Hicks' blood-alcohol level was .285 percent.

Keller says the victim's friends told authorities they had been at a nearby Highwood bar and were walking to the train stop to return to the Great Lakes Naval Station.