California man killed by train after being drugged, robbed in Italy
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 05/26/2008 10:00:49 AM PDT


ROME - A California tourist was killed by a train as he walked on the tracks in a daze after he drank a cappuccino laced with drugs and then was robbed, railway police said today.

Frank Phel, 74, whose hometown was not disclosed, died early Friday at the suburban Tiburtina station, police official Giovanni Piccolantonio said.

The suspected robber, a 54-year-old Italian man who was arrested Saturday, had chatted with Phel and his wife before fetching them cappuccinos at a local cafe and then adding a mix of drugs including sleeping pills, Piccolantonio said.

"This man approached these two tourists and earned their trust, and then offered them two cappuccinos with drugs," Piccolantonio said.

The robbery was filmed by security cameras at a nearby cafe, Piccolantonio said. Footage from other cameras also showed the man stumbling near the tracks, where he ended up by accident.

Phel and his wife, who was briefly hospitalized after the incident, had just completed a cruise in the Mediterranean and were going to Hungary by bus, Piccolantonio said.

Phel's wife went to Hungary, where her husband was born, after being released from the hospital.

The U.S. Embassy in Rome did not have an immediate comment on Phel's death.