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Woman Left Handcuffed in Parked Cop Car Struck by Train Settles Suit for $8.5 Million

Loaded on Sept. 1, 2024 by Douglas Ankney published in Criminal Legal News September, 2024, page 42
Filed under: Police Misconduct, Restraints, Settlements, Physical Injury/Restraint, Deliberate Indifference. Location: Colorado.

by Douglas Ankney

On June 5, 2024, Plaintiff Yareni Rios-Gonzalez agreed to accept payment of $8.5 million from Defendants Town of Platteville, Colorado, and the City of Fort Lupton to settle her suit related to the injuries she suffered after police officers handcuffed her and left her unattended in a patrol car parked on railroad tracks, which was then struck by a freight train.

On September 16, 2022, Fort Lupton officers Jordan Steinke and Ryan Thomaczek, along with Platteville police Sergeant Pablo Vasquez, responded to a report that Rios-Gonzalez had displayed a firearm during a road-rage incident. Rios-Gonzalez was handcuffed and placed in Vasquez’s patrol car that was parked on the train tracks. The officers left Rios-Gonzalez alone in the vehicle. As the train approached, Steink shouted “oh shit!” The train wiped the patrol car from the tracks.

Rios-Gonzalez’s injuries included traumatic brain injury, amnesia, broken bones, and a punctured lung. Rios-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to a charge of menacing in connection with the road-rage incident and was sentenced to 10 hours of community service. But Steinke was convicted at a bench trial on charges of misdemeanor reckless endangerment and assault related to his role in placing the cuffed Rios-Gonzalez in the patrol car. Judge Timothy Kerns stated he initially planned to sentence Steinke to a jail term but, citing Rios-Gonzalez’s “grace and compassion,” imposed 30 months’ probation and 100 hours of community service.

Vasquez pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and also received a sentence of 30 months of probation. Thomaczek was not charged.

The Town of Platteville and the City of Fort Lupton will split the damages equally, with the insurer of those entities paying the $8.5 million. Rios-Gonzalez was represented by attorney Eric Ziporin.  

Source: lawandcrime.com

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  2. Third Circuit Announces Rehaif Applies Retroactively to Cases on Collateral Review and Rules Second-in-Time § 2255 Petition Not Successive Where Defendant Resentenced Prior to Second Petition, by Sam Rutherford
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