California man struck and killed by train identified after video shows homeless man eating his severed leg

A man who was killed by a train in California in a crash that severed his leg has been identified after a man was arrested for injuring his limb.

Horacio Ayala Peñaloza, 48, died after being struck by an Amtrak train that killed him instantly in Wasco in March of this year.

Peñaloza died from multiple blunt force head injuries, with his death ruled an accident, aAccording to a coroner's office report obtained by KBAK.

After the incident, stunned onlookers filmed video of homeless man Rosendo Tellez, 27, picking up the severed leg. Witnesses said they saw Tellez sniff the limb and wave it around before trying to eat it.

Following the reports and an investigation by the coroner as well as police, Tellez pleaded no contest to four charges in April, including two counts of removing human remains from somewhere other than a cemetery and destruction/concealment of evidence.

He was sentenced to one year in prison. Tellez also faced additional charges for introducing contraband into a correctional facility.

According to documents filed by sheriff's investigators, Tellez picked up the leg at the accident scene because he thought it belonged to him.

“Tellez stated that after the train stopped (and) before the police arrived, he saw the foot on the ground and thought it was his foot,” an investigator said.

“Tellez told me he picked up the foot to take it to the hospital, but he got scared and ran away when people in the neighborhood started yelling at him.”

The officer saw that Tellez had both of his legs and then continued to search for the victim, KGET reported. Another video from the scene shows Tellez sitting on a bear cub with his pant legs pulled up as he is convinced by an officer that he had both legs.

In March, footage showed Tellez walking away from the area while holding Peñaloza's leg following the accident.

He was seen leaning over and pressing his nose against the leg – appearing to smell it – and swinging it as officers closed in on the sickening episode.

A work crew laying concrete near the station watched the scene unfold, with worker Jose Ibarra informing WPDE of the alleged cannibalism.

Ibarra told the outlet: “I don’t know where from, but he walked in this direction and he was waving a person’s leg.

“And he started chewing him there, and he was biting him and he was hitting him against the wall and everything.”

A GoFundMe was created to help the Peñaloza family cover funeral expenses and has raised just over $1,000.

Tellez was apprehended by police without resistance. Authorities discovered he had outstanding arrest warrants.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the train company involved, confirmed that one of its trains was involved in the collision.

According to their initial findings, Peñaloza was on the platform when he was hit by the train.