Two police officers in Colorado have been charged nearly two months after a 20-year-old was seriously injured when she was struck by a train while handcuffed in the back seat of a patrol SUV parked on a railroad crossing.
Jordan Steinke of the Fort Lupton Police Department was charged with one count of criminal attempt to commit manslaughter and one count of second degree assault, both felonies, as well as one count of reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, the Weld County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Monday.
Pablo Vazquez of the Platteville Police Department was charged with five misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment; one count of obstructing highway or other passageway, a petty offense; one count of careless driving, a traffic infraction, and one count of parking where prohibited, also a traffic infraction.
Steinke and Vazquez could not immediately be reached at numbers listed for them. It’s unclear whether they have retained attorneys.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has said the officers were responding Sept. 16 to an alleged road rage incident involving a gun.
A Platteville police officer stopped Yareni Rios-Gonzalez’s car just past a set of railroad tracks, north of Platteville, near Denver, and parked the patrol vehicle on the crossing.
Two Fort Lupton officers arrived and she was detained on suspicion of felony menacing. She was placed in the back of the Platteville officer’s vehicle, which the train hit as it was traveling northbound while officers searched her car.
Vazquez was charged with five counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment, one count of careless driving, one count of obstructing a passageway and one count of parking where prohibited, the district attorney’s office announced.
The district attorney’s office also announced a felony menacing charge against Rios-Gonzalez Monday. She had been accused of pointing a firearm at someone when she was arrested, the district attorney’s office said.
The officers and Rios-Gonzalez were issued summons, but not arrested, the district attorney’s office said.
It was unclear Tuesday if either officer had obtained a lawyer.
Police officer Falsely arrests a Mother, puts her in his squad car directly on the train tracks and runs… pic.twitter.com/k9AmFQLVoH
— Southland Post (@SouthlandPost) March 22, 2023