A dramatic video captures the terrifying moment a train derails a police car in Colorado, injuring a female suspect who was being transported there.
KDVR reported that a Platteville police officer had stopped his car on the tracks at US 85 and County Road 38 to question Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, earlier this month in connection with a road rage incident.
According to 9NEWS, a vehicle in Fort Lupton called 911 to say that Rios-Gonzalez had been tailgating them in her pickup and had pulled out a revolver.
The Platteville officer observed the suspect in his area, prompting a search by police in Fort Lupton and Weld County.
The Platteville officer conducted a high-risk traffic stop with the assistance of two officers from Fort Lupton, who escorted the woman to the backseat while they looked for a gun.
WBTV reported that along with the unsettling video, police said the policemen appeared inattentive to the sounds of a Union Pacific freight train sounding its horns three times as it approached the car in the video.
“Oh, s-t! Uh, my God! An officer in uniform, likely a woman, can be heard screaming.
A few seconds later, dash cam footage captures the moment the train slams into the police car and begins to drag it down the rails.
The female officer reports over the radio, “Patrol car was just hit by a train.” “Deliver the cure!” That car was hit by a train, and the suspect was inside!
The police officers can be seen racing to the wrecked car.
After noting that the injured woman “took a long time to pull over,” a male officer warns, “There may still possibly be a firearm in the vehicle, I don’t know if you guys have been through it yet.”
Rios-Gonzalez suffered serious injuries but is expected to survive, police said.
The police officer whose vehicle was struck with the suspect inside has been placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation continues, Platteville Police Chief Carl Dwyer told KDVR.
“The town of Platteville continues to work cooperatively with [the Colorado Bureau of Investigation] and [Colorado State Patrol] during their investigation regarding this incident,” he told the news station.
Ed Obayashi, a California sheriff’s deputy who is an authority on police operations, told 9NEWS that officers are accountable for suspects’ safety.
“In other words, since you have assumed control, physical control, over them and their movements, you are by definition accountable to defend them in any situation,” he stated.
“I can’t fathom why he would leave his vehicle on the tracks with the subject inside,” Obayashi added. “Why didn’t you move the vehicle off the tracks? That’s going to be the biggest question.”