Police officer convicted for leaving detained woman in patrol vehicle that was hit by train

Yareni Rios-Gonzalez was detained in this stationary police vehicle when a train struck her on Sept. 16, 2022. (Screenshot: Law&Crime Network)

Yareni Rios-Gonzalez was detained in this stationary police vehicle when a train struck her on Sept. 16, 2022. (Screenshot: Law&Crime Network)

A woman who suffered devastating wounds after police officers left her handcuffed in a patrol car parked on train tracks reached a settlement for $8.5 million with two towns in her lawsuit.

The plaintiff, Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, suffered injuries including a traumatic brain injury, amnesia, broken bones, and a punctured lung in September 2022, her attorney has said, according to The Denver Post last year. Three officers were at the scene of the crash in Platteville, Colorado, that September 2022: Fort Lupton officers Jordan Steinke and Ryan Thomeczek and Platteville police Sgt. Pablo Vazquez. Thomeczek did not get charged, but Steinke was convicted in a bench trial last year for misdemeanor reckless endangerment and assault, and Vasquez pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment.

The settlement

Eric Ziporin, an attorney for Steinke and Thomeczek, told Law&Crime that responsibility for the $8.5 million of Rios-Gonzalez’s settlement will be split.

“That amount will be split 50/50 between the City of Fort Lupton and the Town of Platteville,” he wrote in an email. “The settlement will be paid by the insurer for both entities.”

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