South Deerfield man killed by train ID’d

SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office has identified the 60-year-old South Deerfield man who was fatally struck by a train Monday evening as Michael Arietta.

Emergency personnel were notified of a report of a person struck by an Amtrak train near the Pleasant Street railroad crossing at 4:11 p.m., according to Deerfield Police Chief John Paciorek. The northbound train was traveling from Washington D.C. to St. Albans, Vermont.

Although a LIFE STAR helicopter was initially called to transport Arietta, he was ultimately taken to Baystate Franklin Medical Center by a South County EMS ambulance. The South Deerfield Fire District, in a Facebook post, later stated the patient was airlifted from the Greenfield hospital to Springfield’s Baystate Medical Center.

Loisel confirmed Tuesday that Arietta died at the hospital Monday evening. When asked on Wednesday whether the death is believed to be a suicide, a result of foul play, accidental or otherwise, Loisel said Arietta’s death remains under investigation.

Monday’s incident comes just a few months after a 43-year-old Deerfield man was killed after being struck by an Amtrak train in the area of South Main Street and Thayer Street in South Deerfield in November. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Paciorek said in November.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.