Road-rage suspect left handcuffed in cop car that was hit by a freight train is awarded $8.5M
A Colorado woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury when a freight train struck the cop car she was handcuffed inside has been awarded $8.5 million after settling a lawsuit against the officers and their departments.
Horrifying video footage had captured the moment Yareni Rios was detained in a cop car parked on tracks in Platteville in September 2022 — with the officers seemingly oblivious to a fast-approaching locomotive repeatedly blaring its horn.
Finally, a female officer notices, gasping, “Oh my God, oh my God!”
Another officer yells, “Stay back!” while moving away from the squad vehicle — which gets slammed by the Union Pacific freight train.
Rios — who’d been stopped for allegedly waving a gun during a road-rage fight — suffered numerous broken bones and a traumatic brain injury, her attorney, Paul Wilkinson, told Colorado Public Radio.
She was awarded $8.5 million during mediation for her lawsuit filed against the Platteville and Fort Lupton police departments as well as individual officers, including two who have been fired and criminally charged.
“This is an excellent result and a hard-fought result,” the attorney said, saying it lifted the spirits of his still-injured client.
“She is up and moving around. She is still recovering from some physical and emotional impacts that she’ll be dealing with for the rest of her life. But considering she got hit by a train, she’s doing all right.”
The settlement will see each town splitting the cost under a single insurance policy, according to their attorneys.
Two of those named in the lawsuit — Platteville police Sgt. Pablo Vasquez and Fort Lupton Police Officer Jordan Steinke — were fired from their jobs and criminally charged following the crash.
Vasquez pleaded guilty in December to one count of reckless endangerment and was sentenced to 12 months of unsupervised probation.
Steinke was convicted of reckless endangerment and assault, both misdemeanors, in 2023.
She was sentenced to 30 months of supervised probation and was required to complete 100 hours of community service.
