Woman hit by train after police locked her on tracks pleads no contest

The Colorado woman who was hit by a train after officers locked her in the back of a police SUV that was parked on railroad tracks in Weld County pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge Friday after prosecutors dropped a felony charge against her.

Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 21, will avoid jail time if she follows the conditions of her deferred sentence and completes 10 hours of community service, according to court records.

Rios-Gonzalez was stopped by Fort Lupton and Platteville police officers on Sept. 16 after a 911 caller told dispatchers she’d flashed a gun at him during a road rage incident. Officers took Rios-Gonzalez into custody and then locked her in the back of a police SUV that was parked on the tracks near U.S. 85 and Weld County Road 38.

The officers then failed to move the SUV or help Rios-Gonzalez as a train bore down on the vehicle, horn blaring, and as Rios-Gonzalez screamed for help. The train hit the SUV with her inside, and she suffered significant injuries including a brain injury, broken ribs, broken wrists, a punctured lung, a broken leg and amnesia.

Rios-Gonzalez was charged with felony menacing in connection with the road rage incident. But prosecutors on Friday dropped the felony charge and replaced it with a misdemeanor menacing charge, to which Rios-Gonzalez pleaded no contest.

A no-contest plea means that she admits prosecutors likely could prove the menacing charge in a jury trial, but allows her to avoid admitting guilt. It is treated much the same as a guilty plea.