A former Colorado police officer who put a handcuffed woman in a parked police cruiser that was hit by a freight train, causing her severe brain damage, has avoided prison time and must instead serve 30 months of supervised probation .
Jordan Steinke, 29, was sentenced Friday by Weld County District Court Judge Timothy Kerns, who found her guilty of reckless endangerment and reckless assault for the Sept. 16, 2022, crash near of Platteville. Kerns acquitted the former Fort Lupton police officer of criminal attempt to commit manslaughter after his trial in July.
Steinke, who cried during the sentencing hearing, apologized to victim Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, who attended the hearing virtually. In addition to her brain injury, Rios-Gonzalez also suffered broken ribs, wrists, a punctured lung and head trauma.
Kerns said he had planned to sentence Steinke to prison, but he changed his mind after prosecutors and defense attorneys asked for a sentence of probation. The Denver Post reported.
“Someone is going to hear this and say, ‘Another officer is coming down,'” Kerns said. “Those are not the facts of this case. »
A female suspect, believed to have been involved in a road rage incident, has been arrested by police in Colorado.
The police stopped their car on the train tracks and ordered the suspect to retrace her steps.
The officers handcuffed Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, and placed her in the back of the car.
He ordered Steinke to perform 100 hours of community service. And if she violates the terms of her probation, “I will go back to my initial knee-jerk response as to how to approach sentencing,” Kerns warned.
“What happened that night haunted me for 364 days,” Steinke said. “I remember your screams and screams. I remember begging you to tell me your name. I’ve never felt so helpless that we couldn’t get you out of the car.
Steinke said she hopes to accomplish part of her community service by giving educational talks to new police officers about the dangers of train tracks and the importance of police officers being aware of their surroundings.
The former officer’s attorney said Steinke was undergoing therapy following the incident.
“The horror of what I saw and what you experienced never leaves me,” Steinke told Rios-Gonzalez.
“Please don’t use this experience to hate other police officers. You can blame me and you should. I want to make it very clear to this court, to Ms. Rios, to her family and to everyone watching: I will benefit from this, I will educate current and future police officers and everyone who will listen,” he said. she added.
Plateville Police Sgt. at the time. Pablo Vazquez had arrested Rios-Gonzalez after a road rage incident involving a gun. Steinke took her into custody and locked her in Vazquez’s police cruiser, parked on the railroad tracks. A train hit the SUV.
Officer Jordan Stienke will be forced to perform 100 hours of community service following the incident.
Sgt. Pablo Vazquez had arrested Rios-Gonzalez in connection with a road rage incident
Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, is lucky to be alive after being hit by a train while sitting in the back of a police cruiser
Rios-Gonzalez, who suffered a lasting brain injury and is in pain, disagreed with how she wanted Steinke to be punished, attorney Chris Ponce said.
“The conflict she feels is where she has to feel this pain every day,” Ponce said. “And she had to face (doctor’s) appointments and her life changed dramatically.” And I feel upset, very upset about it – angry about it – but on the other hand, I have compassion for Ms. Steinke and, I think, I feel really empathetically sorry for the way that she lost her career.
Steinke was fired from the Fort Lupton Police Department after her conviction. She would have to lose her certification in peace officer standards and training, her lawyer Mallory Revel said, meaning she could never be a police officer again.
At Steinke’s trial, her lawyers said she did not know Vazquez had parked her police cruiser on the train tracks.
Vazquez is still on trial for his role in the crash. He was charged with five counts of reckless endangerment for allegedly putting Rios-Gonzalez, Steinke and three others in danger, as well as traffic-related offenses including parking where prohibited.
Rios-Gonzalez also filed a lawsuit against the police departments involved.
