NEWBURYPORT — A 63-year-old retired Haverhill police officer was struck and killed by a commuter train at the MBTA station Saturday afternoon.
Richard E. Witkiewicz suffered head trauma after he was hit by a train that was arriving at the Newburyport station at 5:32 p.m., according to Steve O'Connell, spokesman for District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident appears to have been an accident, O'Connell said, and foul play is not suspected.
The engineer was slowing the train as he approached the platform, O'Connell said, and had turned on the headlights and sounded the horn and bell. The train was estimated to be traveling at about 30 miles per hour, he said.
A conductor saw Witkiewicz on the track at the last minute and activated the emergency brake, but it was too late to stop, O'Connell said.
Mike Early, owner and operator of London Livery taxi service, said he had been talking with Witkiewicz for about 10 minutes as they waited for the train to arrive. Early was parked near the entry to the platform in the lot next to Route 1.
Early said Witkiewicz knocked on the window of his London-style cab and inquired about transportation in the future. Witkiewicz told him he was taking the train to Boston and would return later that evening, Early said.
Early said Witkiewicz broke off the conversation when he saw the train coming and was heading for the platform.
O'Connell said witnesses saw Witkiewicz getting out of a taxi when the train arrived and walking very fast toward the platform.
MBTA spokeswoman Lydia Rivera said¬ it appears Witkiewicz was crossing the tracks in a pedestrian crosswalk when he was struck by the train.
"He was crossing in a designated crosswalk when he was struck," Rivera said. "He was struck by the train that departed Boston at 4:30 p.m. and was due in Newburyport at 5:32 p.m."
Haverhill City Councilor David Hall, a retired police officer who worked with Witkiewicz, said Witkiewicz retired from the department more than 25 years ago after suffering a leg injury.
"He was great, but he was only on a short time when he had this accident," Hall said.
Retired Deputy Police Chief Donald Shea said Witkiewicz joined the department in the late 1970s. He fell and shattered his knee while making an arrest during a disturbance in Lafayette Square.
Other officers liked him, Shea said, describing him as "a regular guy."
Witkiewicz grew up on Canterbury Avenue in Haverhill and lived there until about a year and a half ago when he left to live with his girlfriend, said his sister, Janet Witkiewicz.
There was some confusion yesterday about where Witkiewicz lived and where he was going when the accident occurred. Police had a Haverhill address for him, but when they contacted family members there, they were told he lived in Exeter, N.H.
People in Newburyport who knew him said Witkiewicz sometimes took the train home to Beverly.
Janet Witkiewicz did not know where her brother was currently living or what he was doing in Newburyport, but she said he liked to go out and eat in restaurants.
Witkiewicz had no wife or children. He leaves behind his sister and a younger brother, Bobby, Janet Witkiewicz said.
Witkiewicz graduated from Haverhill High School in the 1960s and served as a sergeant in the Air Force. He enjoyed working in the yard, Janet Witkiewicz said.
"He was a good brother. He looked after his sister," Janet Witkiewicz said. "He'll be missed. He was a great guy to a lot of people."
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