A Colorado police officer, Jordan Steinke, has been found guilty of reckless endangerment and assault after a fatal crash that left a suspect, Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, seriously injured. Steinke was the first of two officers to go on trial over the September 16, 2022, incident. The incident occurred when Steinke put a handcuffed Rios-Gonzalez in a parked police vehicle that was subsequently hit by a freight train.
According to the investigation, Steinke was helping another officer and was aware that a suspect’s pick-up truck posed a threat. Steinke testified that she did not know the patrol car was parked on the tracks, despite clear footage on her body camera showing the vehicle and two rail crossing signs. Steinke claimed she was fixated on potential threats from the suspect and her vehicle, rather than the ground.
A Colorado police officer, Jordan Steinke (Via Jordan Steinke/Twitter)
Steinke stated that she put Rios-Gonzalez in the other officer’s vehicle because it was the nearest spot to temporarily hold her. She admitted that she did not realize the train was approaching until just before it hit the parked police car. Steinke’s negligence, as revealed through the body camera footage, led to Rios-Gonzalez’s serious injuries.
