WELD COUNTY, Colo. — A felony trial began Monday for Fort Lupton Police Officer Jordan Steinke, who is accused of reckless attempt of manslaughter related to a traffic stop in which a woman got hit by a freight train while in a police car.
In September 2022, police pulled over Yareni Rios after a man claimed she pointed a gun at him during a road rage incident. Body camera footage shows Steinke place Rios in the back of the patrol car. The police unit, which was initially driven and parked on the tracks by Platteville Police Officer Pablo Vazquez, is then seen on body camera footage as a mangled pile of metal with Rios still inside.
Rios survived and continues to recover as Steinke faces trial.
In the weeks after the incident, prosecutors charged Steinke with two felony counts. One of the charges, assault with a deadly weapon, was dismissed, while reckless attempt of manslaughter remained.
On Monday, Deputy District Attorney Lacy Wells said during opening statements that Steinke walked on the train tracks at least five times before the train collision and did not place Rios in her own police unit vehicle, which was parked safely away from the train tracks.
Defense attorney Mallory Revel said that responding officers were so focused on a potential gun during the traffic stop, they were unaware they were parked on train tracks. Revel characterized their behavior as “attention blindness.”
“The evidence will show that from the moments immediately following this accident onward, Jordan Steinke has expressed nothing but shock and devastation that this accident happened. The evidence will show she simply did not know that they were at a railroad crossing,” Revel said.
The trial has been slated for five days.
Vazquez faces several misdemeanor charges for his role in the incident.
Rios, who has a pending lawsuit against the police agencies, recently pleaded no contest on a misdemeanor charge relating to the road rage allegation she was initially pulled over for.
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