Cops will charge Colorado woman seriously injured when parked patrol car was hit by freight train
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A Colorado woman who was seriously injured after the patrol car in which she was being held was hit by a freight train will continue to be charged in the alleged traffic accident for which she was initially detained.
Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, suffered nine broken ribs, a broken arm, a fractured sternum and lost several teeth in the September collision, all of which was captured on police body cam.
Nevertheless, the Weld County District Attorney plans to charge her with one charge of threatened felony.
Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, was hit by a train while sitting in the back of a police patrol car but will still face charges in the alleged traffic accident for which she was arrested
Officers stopped their cars on the track and ordered Rios-Gonzalez to walk towards them
Officers handcuffed 20-year-old Yareni Rios-Gonzalez and put her in the back of the car
Rios-Gonzalez’s family has created a GoFundMe account to cover her medical bills and loss of income
A number of law enforcement agencies were involved when they responded to reports of a traffic incident involving a firearm at Fort Lupton, north of Denver.
At the time of the collision, Rios-Gonzalez was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car that had accidentally been parked on the track.
She was ordered out of her vehicle at gunpoint and forced to kneel while officers held her in handcuffs.
It has since been revealed that the arresting officer did not realize he had stopped the vehicle on the tracks, according to police CCTV footage.
Sergeant Pablo Vazquez told another officer that he thought he had cleared the tracks.
In fact, he had parked his car right in the path of the train.
The officers handcuffed the 20-year-old woman suspected of a traffic quarrel
Officers could be seen talking to the suspect just before the train struck
Suddenly the lights of the train could be seen rolling towards the car
More than five minutes later, seemingly unaware of the extremely dangerous position they were parked in, the police were able to spot the officers talking to a female suspect.
Out of nowhere, a train horn can be heard and the lights shine brightly. Seconds later, a cop hears a shout: ‘Move your car, stay behind!’
But there was no time to react before the train collided with the police SUV and sent him racing down the rails while Rios-Gonzalez was still in the car.
No one has been charged in the incident, but an officer has been placed on administrative leave. He said he stopped right behind her truck and focused on her because he was concerned about guns.
Mother of two was recently released from hospital but is still recovering from injuries and unable to work
You see the train collide with the patrol car with enormous speed. This photo was taken a split second before the collision
The mother of two survived despite nine broken ribs, a broken arm, a broken sternum and the loss of several teeth in the accident
He said the “saving grace” was for the other officer to place Rios-Gonzalez on the side of the vehicle not normally used for people being arrested.
Her attorney, Paul Wilkinson, has said he plans to file a lawsuit against the police.
Rios-Gonzalez, who is married with a two-year-old daughter, was released from hospital last month.
‘She’s bedridden. She can move a little. She also has a broken leg that she was not aware of at first,” Wilkinson told the United States Fox news. “She’s still really hurt.”
A previously released video from Vazquez’s body camera shows him and another officer searching Rios-Gonzalez’s truck as the train approaches.
Vazquez asks the other officer several times over the sound of the rumble of the train if Rios-Gonzalez was in the patrol vehicle and she replies with one hand in front of her face, “Oh my god, yes, she was!”
Other police videos show officers scrambling as the train approaches and crashes into the vehicle.
In the wake of the horrific crash, Rios-Gonzalez’s mother put a GoFundMe page that has just managed to raise $7,500 so far.
She said her daughter would never be the same after the crash.
Rios-Gonzalez cannot eat, dress or shower alone.
‘We are very blessed and grateful to our lord that she survived, although this will affect Yareni’s life forever. We need your help to continue Yareni’s medical treatments and help with costs,” she wrote.