A Melbourne man is behind bars accused of trespassing on railroad tracks Monday night but it's why he was there that could have caused a major crash.

Police were called to the area near Fee Avenue around 9:30 p.m. after a man told them 23-year-old Dakota White was on the tracks and refusing to leave as an inbound train approached.

  • Police say Dakota White refused to leave tracks as train approached
  • White said he was playing chicken with the train, police say
  • Train made emergency stop, blared horns for several minutes

"We determined he was playing chicken with the train to see how long he could stay on the tracks, until the last minute to jump off of it," said Commander Dan Lynch with the Melbourne Police Department.

The train conductor spotted White on the tracks and made an emergency stop.

But that didn't stop him as he was yelling at the train to hit him.

Several minutes passed with the train's horn blaring and White refusing to back down.

Another man finally pulled him off the tracks, and he took off running.

Officers tracked White down and charged him with interfering with a train, and trespassing on railroad property.

Cody McIntire often works late nights at a building right next to the railroad tracks in the downtown Melbourne area. He hears trains go by all the time, their horns sounding as they quickly pass.

But Monday night it was different.

He was shocked to learn there was a man on the tracks purposely trying to get hit by a train.

"Stay off the tracks, the train might not stop," said McIntire.

White is being held on a $2,500 bond.

We reached out to Florida East Coast Railway for comment about the incident, but haven't heard back.