Frightening body camera footage caught the moment a police vehicle parked on rail tracks with a woman detained inside was hit by a freight train.
On September 16, Fort Lupton police were assisted by a Platteville police officer in arresting a female suspect involved in a high-risk vehicle in the Fort Lupton area of Colorado, according to authorities.
While detailing the woman, Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, the Platteville police officer is seen parking his cruiser on the railroad tracks on Highway 85 and in the area of Weld County Road 36. The officer then places the woman inside the vehicle.
Moments later, a northbound freight train’s whistle is heard approaching in the background and collides with the police vehicle before anyone can move it or the woman out of the way.
Officers immediately performed lifesaving measures on Rios-Gonzalez, as she was transported to a hospital.
Remarkably, the woman survived but is still in the hospital with a broken arm, nine broken ribs, a fractured sternum, broken teeth, and injuries to her leg, back, and head,” said Paul Wilkinson, a personal injury attorney representing the 20-year-old woman, KMGH reported. She was noted as being able to have a conversation.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the investigation after the Fort Lupton Police Department (FLPD) requested the state agency to investigate, as it is standard when a person in custody suffers a serious injury.
The FLPD and Platteville Police Department (PPD) noted in separate statements that they are cooperating with the CBI. The FLPD is investigating the original road rage incident, while the Colorado State Patrol is reviewing the crash.
The officer who placed the woman inside the vehicle has been placed on administrative leave, according to the PPD via KMGH.
Both police departments are facing intense public scrutiny as questions are raised as to why the suspect was detained in a vehicle parked on railroad tracks.
“I mean aren’t these guys supposed to know better. I’m just baffled that he would even park his car there,” one Facebook user commented on the PPD’s public statement.
“I just don’t understand why anyone would park a car on train tracks and then put a handcuffed human being in it,” another user commented on the FLPD’s public statement.
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.