Police in Colorado made an egregious error after arresting a woman during a road rage incident.
Footage released by the Platteville and Fort Lupton police departments shows a freight train smashing into a parked police cruiser, which was carelessly parked on the train tracks.
The incident occurred on September 16th.
Officers had just detained a woman involved in a road rage incident by handcuffing her in the backseat of the vehicle.
The suspect, 20-year-old Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, was still in the vehicle when the train hit.
After it happened, one officer can be heard asking “Hey, was she in there? Was she in there? Was she in there?”
“Oh my God, yes, she was,” the other officer responded.
Rios-Gonzalez somehow survived the crash, but was treated for numerous injuries.
One of the officers has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Colorado cops parked their cruiser on active train tracks during a traffic stop, put an handcuffed woman in the back seat, and hid while a train barreled into the car. The woman barely survived and had to watch helpless as the train rushed towards her https://t.co/8p5dJFOwKr
— Rebecca Pierce (@aptly_engineerd) September 25, 2022
The Guardian reported on this terrifying incident:
A dramatic video released by Colorado authorities shows the moment a freight train hit a police patrol cruiser parked on the train tracks with a person handcuffed in the backseat.
The video, which was released on Friday by the Platteville and Fort Lupton police departments, shows how Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, was hurt after officers from both agencies detained her in a patrol car on 16 September as they searched her pickup truck for weapons.
The officers were responding to a report of a road rage confrontation that involved a gun in Fort Lupton. A Platteville police officer stopped Rios-Gonzalez’s truck near a set of railroad tracks and parked the patrol vehicle atop the tracks.
According to the Colorado bureau of investigation, the traffic stop that the officers conducted was considered high risk because they detained Rios-Gonzalez on suspicion of felony menacing, so they put her in the back of a patrol cruiser on the scene.
An edited excerpt of body-camera and dashboard-camera footage posted online shows officers searching the pickup truck and the surrounding area for firearms before a train’s horn is heard in the distance. The officers appear to take at least 15 seconds to realize a Union Pacific train was incoming.
Here is the graphic video:
TRAIN HITS OCCUPIED POLICE CAR
VIDEO: With a suspect detained in the back seat, a police car is crushed by a fast-moving train in Weld County
Suspect was handcuffed in the back seat as the train blared a horn leading up to the crash. I will have more on @CBSNewsColorado 4/5/6p pic.twitter.com/P0w3hd5Bs2
— Dillon Thomas (@DillonMThomas) September 23, 2022
Fort Lupton Police officers handcuffed a 20-year-old driver in the back of a police cruiser and left it on train tracks.
The officer who parked it is now on paid leave after a train hit the driver, who miraculously survived and ended up in the hospital.https://t.co/2nSt09PWoT
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) September 25, 2022
KSLTV has details on the aftermath:
The Fort Lupton Police Department released body camera and dashcam video on Friday showing Yareni Rios-Gonzalez inside the patrol car that was hit by a train. Rios-Gonzalez is hospitalized with multiple injuries but is expected to survive, the Colorado Bureau of Investigations said.
The police officer responsible for parking the car on the tracks has been placed on administrative leave:
The vehicle that was hit was a cruiser from the Platteville Police Department, which was assisting with the traffic stop. Platteville Police Chief Carl Dwyer said the officer who parked on the railroad tracks has been placed on paid administrative leave pending investigation by the CBI. Neither police department has identified any of the officers involved in the incident.
Here is a longer video leading up to the incident
Shocking Video Shows Train Ram Into Cop Car With Handcuffed Woman Inside
The train crashed into a Colorado police vehicle that they parked ON THE TRACKS after dark,… and then placed a handcuffed woman inside.pic.twitter.com/WaPQufkNHG
— Roshan Rinaldi (@Roshan_Rinaldi) September 25, 2022
A wave of criticism now faces both departments:
They arrested a woman, handcuffed her, AND PUT HER INTO A POLICE CAR THEY HAD PARKED ON ACTIVE TRAIN TRACKS.
Then, when a train inevitably came, they abandoned her, leaving her to be hit by the oncoming train. https://t.co/qAjV4zebFs
— Kendall Brown (@kendallybrown) September 25, 2022
Police put a woman in a car. And left it on the train tracks. And a train hit the car.
Do police officers need to be taught about trains? What training fixes utter disregard for human life? What will another million from the city budget do to rectify this? Why do we trust them? https://t.co/mOUzRtYIV4
— Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) September 19, 2022
Why the fuck was a police car parked on train tracks in the first place?
Police violence is beyond excusable in the US already. Especially racially-charged violence.
But what’s also becoming clear is the everyday incompetence of officers in every single facet of their job. https://t.co/ZiizIoEVHz
— Smutchings (@Smutchings) September 25, 2022
the police parked this woman on the train tracks like a fucking silent movie villain. are you kidding me. https://t.co/9WS0Rp4wd7
— Joshua Erlich (@JoshuaErlich) September 19, 2022
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