The engineer of the Metrolink commuter train that collided last week with a vehicle on the tracks died early Tuesday.

Glenn Steele, 62, of Homeland, in Riverside County, was one of four people critically injured in the Feb. 24 crash at the crossing at Fifth Street and Rice Avenue in Oxnard. Steele died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Steele had 42 years of experience and was ranked No. 1 on the Metrolink seniority list.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board were continuing to look into the details of the crash between the train and a truck driven by Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez, 54, of Yuma, Ariz.

Preliminary investigation showed that Sanchez-Ramirez drove onto the tracks while trying to make a turn at the Fifth Street and Rice Avenue intersection. In the crash, a five-car commuter train bound for the San Fernando Valley carrying 51 passengers hit the truck. Three of the train cars flipped onto their sides.

Twenty-eight passengers were injured and transported to area hospitals, while others were treated at the scene.

The train was traveling 56 miles per hour when it hit the truck. The train’s data recorder shows the horn sounded 12 seconds before impact and that the emergency brakes were applied eight seconds before the collision.

Sanchez-Ramirez was taken into police custody not long after the crash and was released on Thursday. He has not been charged in connection with the incident but is due back in court on May 4.

District Attorney Gregory Totten cited the complexity of the ongoing investigation for his decision not to immediately proceed with a criminal case against Sanchez-Ramirez.

Speaking to reporters, Ron Bamieh, an attorney for Sanchez-Ramirez, said his client was in the area because the Arizona resident was mapping out a route for a job he was to take in the area for his employer, Growers Co. Inc., of Somerton, Ariz.

He said his client’s truck, which was carrying welding tools, became stuck on the track and could go forward but not get off the tracks. He said Sanchez-Ramirez put on his high beams and tried to push the vehicle off the tracks but was unable.

“He was then forced to flee to save his own life,” Bamieh said, adding his client went looking for people but couldn’t find any.