Driver charged with animal cruelty after train hits horse trailer

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. - A man was charged with cruelty to animals after the horse trailer he was pulling got hit by a train in Powder Springs.

Trains are a common site along Powder Springs' Dallas Road. There's a grade to the crossing on Angham Road. Trucks occasionally get hung up on the tracks. Something similar happened Saturday night.

"A truck pulling a horse trailer tried to traverse over that crossing and got lodged on the tracks," said Powder Springs Capt. Jason Holcombe.

When police pulled up, they found a pickup with heavy damage and a mangled, overturned horse trailer with a horse inside about 200 feet down the tracks. But no driver.

K-9 Officer Bane was called in to assist.

"They tracked him with the dog, where he ran into the wooded area, he was found hiding in that wooded area," said Capt. Holcombe.

Meanwhile, others tried to get to the horse that was pinned inside the trailer.

"The emergency crews dealt with the horse that was in the trailer. Unfortunately, it suffered critical injuries and did not survive," said Capt. Holcombe.

The driver, Esaul Castro from Cartersville, was charged with animal cruelty, DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.

Norfolk Southern is conducting its own investigation into the crash.