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Former cop sentenced to community service after a woman she handcuffed and placed in a cop car parked on a marked railroad crossing was struck by a train

Sep 17, 2023, 23:43 IST
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A judge sentenced Colorado police officer Jordan Steinke to 30 months probation and 100 hours of community service.Nick de la Torre/Houston Chronicle via Getty Image
  • Last year, police placed a handcuffed woman in a patrol car parked on a marked railroad crossing.
  • Within minutes, a train smashed into the car, leaving her with nine broken ribs and a broken arm.
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One night in September 2022, a now-former Colorado police officer pulled over a woman she suspected had flashed a gun to another driver in a fit of road rage.

Officer Jordan Steinke handcuffed the woman, 20-year-old Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, bodycam footage showed. Steinke then placed her inside the car of another officer, who had parked his vehicle in the middle of a marked railroad crossing.

Minutes later, a train struck the car.

The crash left Rios-Gonzalez with nine broken ribs and a broken arm, the Denver Post reported.

"She saw it coming and could hear the horn," Paul Wilkinson, attorney for Rios-Gonzalez, told the Denver Post. "She was trying to get the police officers' attention, screaming at them. She tried unlocking the door. She had her hands behind her back and was frantically trying to unlock the door."

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Now, that officer is facing only 30 months of supervised probation and 100 hours of community service, but no jail time, after her sentencing this week, CNN reported.

Colorado Judge Timothy Kerns convicted Steinke of reckless endangerment and third-degree assault in July, CNN reported. However, Kerns found her not guilty of a criminal attempt to commit manslaughter, which is a felony charge.

"As a police officer, I never intended for another human to come to harm under my watch," Steinke said prior to her sentencing, according to CNN. "I feel very much responsible for what happened to you that night. What happened that night has haunted me for 364 days."

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