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Bike-riding teenager races train to tragic ending

 
Published July 10, 2003|Updated Sept. 1, 2005

A 15-year-old boy on a bicycle was struck and killed by an Amtrak train, authorities said.

Jonathan Gordon, of Pompano Beach, and an 18-year-old boy were trying to "beat the train" on their bikes at a crossing about 9 p.m. Tuesday, Broward sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedal said.

Witnesses told deputies that when the guardrails started coming down, the boys ducked under and kept going.

The train, headed to Miami from New York, struck Jonathan and the back of the 18-year-old's bike, but the older teen jumped to safety. Jonathan landed about 100 yards away, Leljedal said.