The Locust Street crossing in Centralia sees more than 50 trains pass through it daily
Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CENTRALIA – Victor J. Bonagofski, a nearly lifelong resident of Centralia, lost his life when he fell off his bicycle on the railroad tracks and was hit by a freight train on Wednesday night.
Police say Bonagofski was at the Locust Street crossing, headed east and the crossing arms had come down. Witnesses told police he was was unable to move off the tracks prior to being struck.
The 72-year-old who made his living recycling and selling car parts had been behind the Hub Tavern on South Tower Avenue not long before it happened.
He was near the dumpsters, “doing what he normally does,” Centralia resident Jennifer Holt said.
She’d noticed him while she and her boyfriend were out in the bar’s beer garden.
Holt said she was taken aback when she learned later what had happened, and who was killed.
“I don’t know him, I know who he is,” she said this morning. “I’d see him a lot, doing the cardboard thing.”
The Lewis County coroner today released his name and said he concluded the death was accidental.
Born in North Dakota, Bonagofski was 10th of 14 children. His family moved to Centralia in 1950, according to one of his more than 60 nieces and nephews.
He lived on Reynolds Avenue, on a parcel of roughly two acres that over the years has drawn the attention of city and county officials, concerned about his thick collection of recyclables and vehicles.
He owned the land there, according to nephew Kevin Bonagofski.
Back in January of 2008, more than a dozen government employees, including law enforcement with their guns drawn, visited his property, accusing Bonagofski of operating an illegal wrecking yard. When they knocked on the door of his soon-to-be condemned mobile home tucked amongst scores of cars and trucks, Bonagofski had been burning sticks and blackberry vines in his wood stove and listening to a local radio talk show.
Twice before, the then-64-year-old said, they’d filed nuisance abatements on his property.
The man who earned a degree in business administration from Seattle University years earlier said it was time consuming, getting the property cleaned up – which is what he suspected officials really wanted – especially with interruptions of lawsuits and civil actions.
Lewis County code enforcement had been talking with him again in recent months.
Nephew Kevin Bonagofski said his uncle never married and had no children.
“I heard one time, he had a mail order bride, but it didn’t work out,” said Dave Dix who works at the commercial properties adjacent to Bonagofski’s compound.
Dix said Bonagofski would stop over once or twice a week, often buying cars when there was an auction.
“It was definitely a shock, he’s gonna be missed, that’s for sure,” Dix said.
Dix said he was told Bonagofski just laid there after he fell down; he wondered if maybe he had a heart attack or hit his head and was knocked out.
BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas said it was an empty grain train headed from Kalama to Montana that was involved. Crew on the northbound train saw someone and tried to stop, Melonas said.
“They went into an emergency brake application, but impact was made, unfortunately,” Melonas said.
It didn’t entirely surprise Dix that the neighbor would have tried to pedal across even after the crossing arms came down. He wasn’t exactly known for abiding by the rules.
“If it wasn’t in the Constitution, then it wasn’t the law,” Dix said. “He was hard on that, he pushed that issue.”
However, he was a good person, in good shape for a man of his age and was busy from daylight to dark, according to Dix. His driver’s license had been suspended, many times, so he usually rode a bicycle pulling a small trailer, he said.
“He was a worker, man he was a worker,” Dix said. “We used to watch him go up the road and come back with that trailer full.”
Lavonne Riggen, Bonagofski’s younger sister, came to the property this afternoon to help look for important documents.
“A lot people looked at Vic and thought he was just a bum,” Riggen said. “But they didn’t know how smart he was; he graduated from Seattle University with degrees in political science and business.”
He was just stubborn about his rights, she said.
The Centralia woman said her brother also was gifted when it came to auto mechanics.
“We used to say he was born with crank case oil in his blood,” she said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
He was referring to his encounters with law enforcement, not his fatal encounter with a train.
And yes, when two or more people get together to violate someone’s constitutional rights or otherwise commit a crime against another individual, it is considered ‘conspiracy’.
Wow, the cognitive dissonance is amazing.
I don’t think that three postings = most Citizens. From the sounds of it all, his encounter with a train was of his own making, not a county conspiracy.
So most people agree that our city officials harass citizens in our community.
I’m so sorry to here about vic he was a good man that got a lot of shit from the city and The county for no reason they should of left him a lone… I’m going to miss him
Giant; i understand your frustration at how he had been treated in life but once you are hit by a train no one rushing over from a nearby location will be providing any type of help that will make a difference.
Whoops – originally posted this on wrong story:
I speculated that the man might have been drinking but, after reading about him, I think that I was wrong. Also people said that they observed him behind the tavern, probably going through the trash, but nobody saw him drinking.
At 72, if you take a hard fall from a bicycle it might be hard or impossible to get up. Also those freight trains can be very long and slow. I know that I have been very frustrated sitting at the lights waiting for one to clear the tracks – I wished that I would have beat it to the crossing. If I was on a bicycle, I would probably try to beat it.
I’m sorry to hear that this man died. From everything that I have read he was quite a local character and definitely was a victim of excessive force by officialdom.
One of our many eccentric fellows used to live up here in Packwood in an old trailer without utilities on his property and had several dead Volkswagens and other vehicles and junk on his property. He rode to town on his bicycle. I was suspicious of him until I got to know him and he was an honest and smart guy.
He did receive quite a lot of harassment from the county on code violations which might have had something to do with living very close to our then county commissioners house. I know there are many worse ram shackles than his was in the upper valley, so it must have been selective enforcement.
Anyway this one has a happy ending as this man moved to a property that he purchased on a mountain way up by the Canadian border.
Vic was a good man, a faithful man, a faithful Catholic, a meek and humble man and a friend. He was the victim of organized crime, aka Lewis County government. Remember when Dale Pace beat him so severely he ended up in Harborview? All over his attempt to make a living by recycling. His place was a mess because the criminals would never let him actually recycle the cardboard. Now he is gone. Am I the only one left wondering?
So in all the city took his license forced him to ride a bike. Raided his property with a swat team and witnesses left him to die while drinking beer at the beer garden as he laid on the tracks in need of help that never came. Im sure a new can collector will take over his route. Most good paying jobs pay less now a days since the illegal workers have invaded the US. Im sure his neighbors and the city are glad to see his trash pile go.
Busty hot babe, pun intended….obviously..
Vic was a very special man and yes he was a very hard worker. I will miss his waveing as he rode down the streets. I new Vic for many many years and he was also very smart. It makes me cry but I also know he will continue his work in Heaven. I hope to see you there my friend.RIP
Vic was known as an old curmudgeon but he served his country as a paratrooper and that can never be taken away from him.
@Redneck– You cant say” the Lord works in mysterious ways, and then say” though He’s not real”lol..apparently, you believe in Him or u wouldnt of even typed His name.lol.
The Lord works in mysterious ways, even though he ain’t for real…….
Great guy to talk to, fun to watch him on his bike, he will be missed on the road between 6th Street and Reynolds Road. God bless you Vic.
Prayers to the family…
That’s too bad. Vic definitely danced to a different tune, but he seemed to be a hard working old guy. RIP Vic.
This makes me sad.
Vic was a crazy old grouch, but he was our crazy old grouch.
He won’t be forgotten.