Man Kicked Off Train in Arizona Found 4 Days Later
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A dazed Missouri man was found wearing only boxer shorts and a sock four days after being removed from an Amtrak train in northern Arizona for unruly behavior and then fleeing from police into nearby woods, authorities said Friday.
Roosevelt Sims, 65, was incoherent when he was found Thursday night in a forested area within the Williams city limits, about a mile or two from the train stop.
"I think he was really confused and disoriented about where he was," said Lt. Mark Christian of the Coconino County Sheriff's Office.
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Sims, of St. Louis, reportedly was headed to Los Angeles to visit family. An Amtrak spokesman said Sims was escorted off the Southwest Chief train Sunday night after he began acting strangely and refused to calm down.
"The person was reported by our conductors to be unruly, disruptive and unwilling to take direction from the conductor to bring his behavior to a level that was not disruptive," said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari, who added that the company followed standard procedure.
Family members told the St. Louis Post Dispatch that Sims had recently been diagnosed with diabetes and may have been suffering the effects of diabetic shock.
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Sims' wife, Ida, declined comment Friday when contacted by The Associated Press.
Once Sims was escorted off the train, a conductor waited with him and his luggage at the regularly scheduled stop in Williams — a rugged town of about 3,000 in a mountainous region of the Kaibab National Forest west of Flagstaff.
Amtrak asked Williams police to meet the train and investigate the incident, but witnesses said Sims ran into nearby woods when he saw the officers.
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Christian said Williams police did a limited search after Sims disappeared, but search and rescue teams didn't become involved until the man's family asked for help on Thursday.
After Sims was found, he was taken to Flagstaff Medical Center for treatment but was incoherent when authorities tried to talk to him, Christian said.
The hospital said Friday that Sims was no longer a patient and did not release any other information.