San Bruno B.A.R.T.

  SAN MATEO--Caltrain officials say a transient man who claimed his leg was clipped by a train in San Mateo on Wednesday instead likely injured himself when he fell down a berm while drinking.

  The man told authorities he was sitting facing the tracks on a bridge at Tilton Avenue around 12:15 p.m., his back against the guardrail, when a train approached. He said his leg was struck as he tried to swing it out of the way, San Mateo Fire Department Acting Battalion Chief Joe Novelli said.

  "He sustained a pretty good injury to his left leg," Novelli said.

  The wound did not appear to be life-threatening, and the man was taken to a local hospital. His name and age were not released.

  Police cordoned off the area as people looked on.

  Caltrain officials said later that the injury didn't appear as though it was caused by a moving train.

  "(Police investigators) think he fell down the grade separation and hurt himself - but either way, the guy was trespassing in a place the guy shouldn't have been," Caltrain spokesman Jonah Weinberg said. "If the guy got hit by a train, chances are his leg would have been shattered."

  After Wednesday's incident, northbound and southbound trains that had traveled through the area at the time were stopped and inspected, and there was no sign of blood, Weinberg said. Stopping the trains caused a delay that lasted less than 10 minutes.

  The man could be cited for trespassing, and the fine for that offense could exceed $400, but that decision is up to the police, Weinberg said.