WELD COUNTY, Colo. — Ten months after surviving a collision with a freight train, Yareni Rios stood before a judge who took the unusual step to apologize for the incident.
In September 2022, police pulled over Rios after a man claimed she pointed a gun at him during a road rage incident.
After Fort Lupton and Platteville officers placed her in a police car parked on train tracks, a freight train collided with the vehicle while Rios was still inside. Rios survived with substantial injuries, including a skull fracture.
Prosecutors still charged Rios with a felony menacing for the gun allegation, and last week she pleaded no contest to a lower misdemeanor crime.
During the plea hearing, Judge Vicente Vigil apologized about the officers’ behavior that led to her injuries.
“It's clear to me that the system failed with respect to you, with respect to that. I hope things are going better for you now,” Vigil said, according to a transcript obtained by 9NEWS.
“So I just wanted to express to you, I'm really really sorry that happened," Vigil added toward the end of the hearing. "No one should be in that position from my perspective. Just incredibly reckless, negligent, stupid behavior, however you want to put it."
9NEWS legal analyst Scott Robinson called the judge’s apology highly unusual, adding that judges will sometimes apologize if criminal charges should have never been filed in a case.
“It's extraordinarily rare for a judge to apologize, ever,” Robinson said. “This is an unusual situation."
9NEWS reached out to Vigil for comment about his unusual apology, but a spokesperson for Colorado’s state judicial system said judges are prohibited by state rules from making public comments about cases that could be appealed.
Rios, who continues to recover at home with physical therapy, has filed a lawsuit against the officers who arrested her the night of the train collision. The lawsuit is still pending, while the officers in the case face their own criminal charges.
Jordan Steinke, who was on patrol for the Fort Lupton Police Department at the time, faces a felony charge, while Pablo Vazquez, who worked for the Platteville Police Department and parked his police car on the train tracks, faces several misdemeanors.
Here is Vigil's entire apology:
"Ms. Rios, I have to say, I'm really sorry for what happened to you. I think it's, quite frankly, ridiculous what you were subjected to with respect to that accident and the cause of your injuries. It's clear to me that – that the system failed with respect to you with respect to that. I hope that things are going better for you now. I hope that you're able to move past that. I can't even imagine how difficult it is having to re – go – live with the results of those injuries while at the same time taking care of a young child. So I just wanted to express to you, I'm really, really sorry that happened. No one should be in that position from my perspective, just incredibly reckless, negligent, stupid behavior, however you want to put it. But no one should be in the back of – left – be left in the back of a squad car while they're in front of a train. So insofar as that might not make a difference, but I'm very sorry that you had to go through that."
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