Woman handcuffed in patrol car hit by train receives $8.5 million in compensation

Rios-Gonzalez had stopped her car just past some railroad tracks after being flagged down by a Platteville police officer. Police body camera footage showed the officer parking his cruiser in the middle of the tracks and two Fort Lupton police officers coming to help.

Rios-Gonzalez was then handcuffed and locked in the patrol car when a train sped toward her shortly thereafter. She later sued Platteville, Fort Lupton and the three police officers involved in the incident. The settlement money will be paid by the cities’ insurers, a lawyer representing two of the officers confirmed to the Washington Post.

Paul Wilkinson, an attorney for Rios-Gonzalez, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening. He told Colorado Public Radio that the settlement was “a hard-fought result.”

“She is still recovering from some physical and emotional effects that will stay with her for the rest of her life,” Wilkinson said of his client.

Platteville Police Chief Carl Dwyer apologized to Rios-Gonzalez in a statement to The Post on Wednesday. The Platteville Police Department “remains committed to providing the highest level of service possible to all who reside in, visit or travel through our community,” he said in the statement, adding that the settlement was in the best interest of Platteville residents.

Fort Lupton Police Chief William Carnes said in a news release Tuesday that the settlement was voluntary and “to the mutual satisfaction” of all involved, adding that it “recognizes the seriousness of the matter and allows all parties to move forward.”

On the night of the crash, a Platteville police officer stopped Rios-Gonzalez after receiving a report of an “incident of road rage involving a firearm” earlier in the day, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Two officers from Fort Lupton arrived to assist with what the agency called a “high-risk traffic stop.”

An officer then handcuffed Rios-Gonzalez. She could be heard on body camera footage asking what was wrong. He locked her in the Platteville police vehicle. A train horn sounded in the distance as officers searched Rios-Gonzalez’s vehicle. They found a gun in the center console, according to KTVZ.

Shortly thereafter, the vehicle in which Rios-Gonzalez was traveling was hit by a train.

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God!” a police officer can be heard saying on the bodycam footage as the train rams the patrol car.

Rios-Gonzalez suffered a traumatic brain injury, the Associated Press reported. She later pleaded no contest to minor threats, her attorney told the AP.

Two police officers were charged in the incident and both were fired from their departments. Jordan Steinke, the Fort Lupton police officer who put Rios-Gonzalez in the car, was convicted of assault and reckless endangerment in July and sentenced to supervised probation and community service in September. Pablo Vazquez, the Platteville police officer, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment in December and was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation, the AP reported.

During her sentencing hearing in September, Steinke emotionally apologized to Rios-Gonzalez.

“What happened that night haunts me,” she said, adding, “I remember your crying and screaming.”