Colorado police officers charged for abandoning handcuffed woman in squad car to be hit by train News
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Colorado police officers charged for abandoning handcuffed woman in squad car to be hit by train

Two Colorado police officers were charged with felonies on Monday for leaving a handcuffed woman in a car that was parked on train tracks in September. The woman was struck by the train and seriously injured.

Officer Jordan Steinke of the Fort Lupton Police Department was charged with attempted manslaughter, second-degree assault, and reckless endangerment.

Officer Pablo Vazquez of the Platteville Police Department was charged with five counts of reckless endangerment, as well as obstructing a highway, careless driving, and parking where prohibited.

Steinke and Vazquez both responded to a report claiming that a woman had allegedly pointed a gun at someone in a road rage-related incident. Vazquez was pursuing suspect Yareni Rios-Gonzalez when she pulled over near the train tracks. Vazquez parked his vehicle on the train tracks as he and Steinke pointed their weapons at Rios-Gonzalez and proceeded to handcuff her.

Steinke then put Rios-Gonzales in the back of Vazquez’ police vehicle while she and Vazquez searched Rios-Gonzalez’s vehicle for weapons. Body camera footage captured a 15-second delay between the train horn sounding and the officers reacting. Neither officer attempted to remove Ms. Rios-Gonzales from the vehicle. The patrol car’s passenger side door was ajar.

Despite her severe head injuries, Rios-Gonzalez also faces felony menacing charges for the suspected road rage incident.