A Brookings man was hit by a train early Saturday morning, but he escaped without serious injury.

The accident was reported at 3:54 a.m. by an employee of Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation (DM&E) in Brookings.

The employee called 911 to report that a man had been hit by a train on tracks at crossing at 17th Avenue South, according to Detective Brett Spencer of the Brookings Police Department.

Spencer said a DM&E train struck a 22-year-old Brookings male, who was later determined to be intoxicated, as he was riding his bike across the tracks. The individual's name is not being released at this time. Blocked road

Early morning traffic was snarled as drivers found rail cars blocking the crossing at Medary Avenue. The road was blocked for at least two hours, one witness reported.

When officers responded to the emergency call, they discovered that the train had moved down the tracks to the 1500 block of Orchard Drive. There, they spotted two individuals (likely DM&E employees) assisting a male with obvious head trauma, Spencer said. They also saw a bike near the tracks.

According to Spencer, one of the responding officers, Sgt. Justina Hilmoe, immediately recognized the man and the bicycle. Didn't want help

On two different occasions, hours earlier in the night, officers offered assistance to the man on the bike, because he fell down a number of times while attempting to ride through downtown Brookings.

At that time, the man told the officers to leave him alone, and that he hadn't broken any laws, Spencer said.

According to Hilmoe, the man used profanity and insisted that he wanted to be left alone. Because the man wasn't breaking any laws, officers allowed him to go on his way. Approximately two hours later, he was hit by the train. Crew spotted man

According to the DM&E employee who reported the accident, the train was traveling eastbound through town at approximately 10 miles per hour when trainmen saw an object next to the south rail of the tracks. The engineer sounded the whistle and put the train in emergency mode.

The Brookings male was discovered about 200 feet back from the front of the train when it stopped, Spencer said.

The man was taken to the emergency room at the Brookings hospital, where he was determined to be intoxicated . He was treated and released later in the day.

Spencer said the man stopped by the police department to pick up his bicycle the next day.

Criminal charges against the man are pending.

The individual could be charged with trespassing. The case in is review by the Brookings County state's attorney.