The suspect suffered nine broken ribs, a broken arm, broken teeth and injuries to her head
Police in Colorado have released bodycam footage showing the heart-stopping moment a patrol car was hit by a train after an officer left it on the tracks while a handcuffed suspect was still inside.
In the video released by the Fort Lupton Police Department, Yareni Rios-Gonzalez could be seen being handcuffed by officers on 16 September after she was identified as a suspect in a road rage case.
The force said in a statement on September 21 that officers had been dispatched to a “reported menacing with a handgun” incident on Highway 85 somewhere in the Fort Lupton area, and that a Platteville officer “was able to locate and stop the suspect vehicle” in the area of Highway 85 and Weld County Road 36.
Rios-Gonzalez was then taken into a patrol car which had been parked on train tracks just behind her car while the officer went back to search her truck.
“Officers cleared the suspect vehicle to determine if anyone else was in the vehicle. Within a matter of seconds, the Platteville’s police vehicle, which contained the female detainee, was struck by a northbound train,” a statement from the force reads.
“Fort Lupton Officers immediately summoned medical assistance and began life sustaining measures,” it continued.
Since then body worn and dash camera footage has been released showing the moment of impact.
Graphic content warning
The Fort Lupton Police Department in Colorado decided it was a good idea to leave a handcuffed woman in their cruiser ON THE TRAIN TRACKS as they.. stand around talking. She suffered serious injuries. [Reddit] pic.twitter.com/7Zdu4xWtdX
— April (@avril4799) September 24, 2022
As Rios-Gonzalez sat in the truck, the noise of a train horn could be heard as officers begin to panic. The train then hit the vehicle, pushing it into a nearby field.
The officer on the scene could be heard on the video calling for a medical response, with one explaining: “The suspect was in the vehicle that was hit by the train.”
Rios-Gonzalez was rushed to hospital with multiple injuries, but the Colorado Bureau of Investigations said she is expected to survive.
She is said to have suffered nine broken ribs, a broken arm, broken teeth and injuries to her head.
The suspect’s attorney, Paul Wilkinson, has claimed Rios-Gonzalez was trying to get the officers’ attention before the car was hit.
“When she was in the back of the car, she was able to see the train coming,” Wilkinson told CNN.
“She was frantically trying to escape, trying to open the doors, but she was handcuffed.”
The lawyer claimed Rios-Gonzalez had been screaming to try and get the attention of the officers, saying: “I don’t know if they just couldn’t hear her or if they were too busy searching her car, but she saw it coming and prepared for the worst. And as you can imagine, lost consciousness and woke up at the hospital. She’s obviously very upset.”
Before the train hit the car, the officers could be seen in bodycam footage searching Rios-Gonzalez’s truck for weapons and discussing whether she might have thrown anything out of the window before being pulled over.
A search of the truck revealed a gun in the center console, as well as a bullet and a holster.
The officer who left the patrol car on the train tracks has been placed on administrative leave, Carl Dwyer, the Platteville Police Chief, has said.
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