We're a party of law and order and back our police. Yet, they must be forcefully called out when they're in the wrong. This incident had no fatalities but could have easily ended in tragedy. There was no shooting, though a firearm was the subject of a vehicle search.
A 20-year-old woman, Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, was arrested and detained near Platteville, Colorado, in Weld County. She was the suspect in a road rage incident in Fort Lupton. Police placed her in handcuffs and put her in the patrol vehicle—standard operating procedure. Did any of the police officers think placing her in the cop car parked on the railway tracks was a good idea? As law enforcement searched Ms. Rio-Gonzalez's pickup truck, an ominous horn could be heard blaring before impact.
How about moving the vehicle to a safer location away from the crossing? The impact was captured on bodycam footage, and it's a miracle that Ms. Rios-Gonzalez survived. The routine traffic stop that ended in a railway fiasco occurred on September 16 around 7:30 PM. Local outlets reported the incident occurred north of Platteville, near U.S. 85 and Weld County Rd. 38. Rios-Gonzalez was placed under arrest for felony menacing involving a firearm.
"The driver of the vehicle pulled to a stop just past the railroad tracks, with the patrol officer behind the car on the tracks. Two Ft. Lupton officers arrived on the scene, and the team conducted a high-risk traffic stop and detained a lone female occupant (age 20, Greeley), placing her in the back of the Platteville patrol car detained on suspicion of felony menacing," Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in a statement: "While the officers cleared the suspect vehicle as part of the investigation, a train traveling northbound struck the PPD patrol car."
The agency added that the condition of Ms. Rios-Gonzalez is unknown, though the YouTube account Police Activity said she suffered multiple broken ribs and a fractured sternum. A "round" was also discovered, along with a holster. The officer whose patrol car was struck has been placed on administrative leave.
Was this gross negligence or an unfortunate happenstance as officers tried to secure the scene amid a potentially highly volatile traffic stop? I still think that the police vehicle could have been moved off the tracks since that's something that we're all told as youngsters: don't play near them. The same logic applies, but I'd think that when this woman recovers from her injuries—a significant lawsuit is coming.
