A DeKalb man was hit by a train early Thursday morning after an unsuccessful game of “chicken” on the railroad tracks.

Steven Brooks, 30, 209 S. Second St., was killed after he was hit by a westbound train at 1:17 a.m. at the South First Street railroad crossing, DeKalb Police Sergeant Chuck Kross said.

Otis Ramsey, engineer of the Chicago and Northern Western freight train, saw Brooks jumping back and forth on the tracks, the police report said. Ramsey last saw Brooks trying to jump away from the train, police said.

Brooks was pronounced dead by DeKalb County Deputy Coroner Bill Engstrom at 1:49 a.m. The police and DeKalb County Coroner Dennis Miller are investigating the accident, an employee of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Police said. A coroner’s inquest is pending, she said.

Kross said Brooks was seen leaving a Dekalb bar before the accident. A local merchant spoke to Brooks and he appeared to be intoxicated, Kross said.

Chicago and Northern Western Transportation Company Corporate Communications Manager Joseph Marren said the train was delayed for an hour and a half after the accident. The train, which was pulling 125 cars, was going from Chicago to Nebraska, Marren said.

ich Carlson, a service manager for Jim Schultz Buick, 216 S. First St., said he knew Brooks as a business acquaintance. Carlson said Brooks was an auto mechanic, and owned his own auto repair shop, Brooks Auto Repair. Brooks ran the business, which is located in an alley between South First and Second Streets, just behind the Buick garage, Carlson said.

Kross estimated only one person gets hit by a train in DeKalb about every two years.