BRIEFLY : MAN PARKS ON TRACK, GETS HIT BY METROLINK.

SYLMAR - A man received minor injuries and was hospitalized to undergo a psychological evaluation after he parked his car on Metrolink tracks and was hit by a train Monday, authorities said.

The man, who was not immediately identified, received only bumps and bruises after his compact car was hit by the train, traveling at a slow rate of speed in the 15600 block of Roxford Street at San Fernando Road, said Officer Bill Mulvihill of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division.

His vehicle was only pushed about two car lengths away from where it was parked on the tracks, said Jim Wells, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The man admitted that he was attempting to commit suicide in the 2:55 p.m. incident, Mulvihill said. He was transported to Olive View-UCLA Medical Center.

- Daily News

Cyclist breaks neck after riding into van

PANORAMA CITY - A bicyclist broke his neck after slamming his bike into a van stopped on the street Monday night, officials said.

The man, who was not immediately identified, was riding a bike in the 13900 block of Chase Street at about 7 p.m. when he rammed into the back of the van, which was waiting at a stop sign, said Officer Bill Mulvihill of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division.

The van driver got out of his vehicle and asked the cyclist if he needed an ambulance, Mulvihill said. The man said he was OK and mumbled some incoherent words before riding a few more feet and falling off his bike.

The victim was transported to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition Monday night, a hospital official said.

The van driver was not cited because the bicyclist hit his vehicle from behind, Mulvihill said.

- Daily News

Fleeing naked man arrested in Reseda

RESEDA - A naked man streaked through a Reseda neighborhood Monday night after he fled from Northridge Hospital Medical Center, police said.

The man, who was not immediately identified, left the hospital about 11 p.m. Monday, and ran through neighborhoods for nearly an hour before he was arrested by police, said Lt. Timothy Moss of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division.

He was arrested near the intersection of Chimineas Avenue and Napa Street, Moss said.

Moss said that California Highway Patrol officers arrested the man earlier on suspicion of driving under the influence after he was involved in a traffic collision, but CHP officials refused to comment on the case.

- Daily News

Lifeguard finds body of drowned man, 19

NEWPORT BEACH - The body of a Toluca Lake teen-ager who drowned after falling off the Huntington Beach Pier earlier this month was found by a lifeguard, who pulled the victim from the ocean, authorities said Monday.

The Orange County Coroner's Office identified the drowning victim as Brandon Paul Bandas, 19, said Gary Sanders, a deputy coroner. A Newport Beach lifeguard sighted his body Sunday morning and plucked him from the waters.

An autopsy was performed Monday and the cause of death was determined to be salt water drowning, Sanders said.

Bandas, who reportedly had been drinking, fell off the pier the night of April 9 after he climbed up the railing, making him the second victim believed to have drowned in as many days.

- Daily News

Panel endorses bill on water-dust issue

SACRAMENTO - A measure that attempts to end a decades-old water war and curb the choking dust from dry Owens Lake passed its first test Monday in the Legislature.

By a 6-1 vote, the Senate Environmental Quality Committee approved a bill that directs Los Angeles to comply with clean-air requirements of the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District.

The district's board voted in July to require Los Angeles to give up 15 percent of the water it takes from the once-fertile Owens Valley and use it to help hold down dust from the lake bed.

- Associated Press