SCARBOROUGH – A man hit by the Amtrak Downeaster in Scarborough early Sunday morning has been identified by police as Charles Hope, 36, whose last known address was in Lowell, Mass.

Hope was taken to Maine Medical Center with what were described as “life threatening injuries” after the incident, which occurred at about 8:15 a.m. some 300 yards north of the railroad overpass on Black Point Road, near Highland Avenue.

The train was heading south toward Old Orchard Beach when Hope reportedly ran in front of the train without looking. According to Detective Sgt. Rick Rouse, spokesman for the Scarborough Police Department, items belonging to Hope “a can of food and a backpack with a very minimal amount of clothing” were found on a box car parked in a line of similar vehicles on a track running parallel to the Amtrak route.

The prevailing theory, said Rouse, is that Hope, believed to be traveling north, was in the woods of Highland Avenue when he heard the Downeaster coming and possibly mistook it for his train moving on.

“For whatever reason, maybe because he thought his stuff was about to take off, he ran back across the tracks right in front of the train and was struck,” said Rouse on Monday. “According to the engineer, Hope never even looked, and he didn’t have time to stop.”

The area near the collision point is free from obstruction, said Rouse, making it unclear how Hope could have not seen the train. A suicide attempt has all but been ruled out.

“If that was the case,” said Rouse, “you’d think he’d have run up to the tracks and stopped, to make sure he got hit, not tried to get across the tracks before the train got there, which is what appears to have happened.”

According to Rouse, the best estimate is that the Downeaster was traveling about 50 miles per hour when it hit Hope. The train did not come to a complete stop until 1,200 feet past the point of impact.

Rouse said he believed Hope was still at the hospital in a medically induced coma. Hospital officials declined to confirm Hope’s condition Tuesday.

A hunt with K-9 dogs was conducted in hopes of finding four men, believed to be transients, spotted near Hope by the conductor as he disembarked from the train. The men were not located. Rouse said it is unknown what connection, if any, they had with Hope, given his inability to answer questions at the time.

Rouse said Scarborough police, who have jurisdiction despite Amtrak and the railroad both having police forces with arresting power, is not pursuing charges.

“There was no sign of impairment in the engineer, or indications anything else was wrong,” said Rouse. “The only possible charge I can see is criminal trespass on railroad property, but that’s obviously not something we’re going to pursue charges on. Due to the state of the suspect, it seems he’s already paid the price.”

The Downeaster was delayed about 90 minutes by the accident. A spokesman for Amtrak could not be reached.