Officer(s) Involved: Fort Lupton Police Department officer Ryan Thomeczek, former Fort Lupton Police Department officer Jordan Steinke, 29, and former Platteville Police Sgt. Pablo Cesar Vazquez.
Synopsis: On 16 September 2022, Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, then 20, a woman from Colorado, was pulled over by Vazquez after another motorist alleged Rios-Gonzalez pulled out a gun during a road rage incident. Shortly thereafter, Steinke and then Thomeczek arrived to help.
Rios-Gonzalez was subsequently placed in the back of Vazquez’s patrol car, which was parked on railroad tracks, by Steinke. Despite the visible tracks and railroad crossing signs, Steinke testified during her trial she was unaware of the car’s location. Body camera footage showed the tracks were visible, but Steinke claimed she did not notice them.
Rios-Gonzalez screamed for help after seeing the train approaching, and although a door in the police car had been left open, she was not able to get out of the caged-in back seat, according to a subsequent lawsuit. The lawsuit accused police of being reckless and failing to protect Rios-Gonzalez while she was in their custody.
Rios-Gonzalez was charged in connection to the aforementioned road rage incident. Having survived the impact, she pleaded no contest to misdemeanor menacing in exchange for 10 hours of community service and avoiding jail under a deferred sentence.
Yareni Rios-Gonzalez suffered serious injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, broken ribs, a broken and dislocated wrist, a punctured lung, and a broken leg. She also experienced memory loss due to the traumatic brain injury.
The result of the lawsuit was an $8.5 million settlement, according to Eric Ziporin, an attorney for Steinke and Thomeczek. The responsibility for the $8.5 million of Rios-Gonzalez’s settlement will be split 50/50 between the City of Fort Lupton and the Town of Platteville.
Outcome: On 1 August 2023, Jordan Steinke was fired from her position at the Fort Lupton Police Department after being convicted in July on a reckless endangerment and assault charges. Steinke received a sentence of 30 months of supervised probation and 100 hours of public service. She is expected to lose her Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certification, meaning she can never be a police officer again.
Pablo Vazquez was fired by the Platteville Police Department earlier in 2023 following the incident. Vazquez pleaded guilty to one count of reckless endangerment in December 2023 and was sentenced to 12 months of unsupervised probation. Despite the guilty plea and sentence, Vazquez can still keep his Colorado law enforcement certification and would be eligible to become a police officer in Colorado again.
Prior to this incident, Vazquez faced issues at his previous job with the Federal Heights Police Department, where he was placed on a performance improvement plan and recommended for demotion due to his perceived incompetence and lack of care for officer safety. You can read more about that story here.
Ryan Thomeczek was not charged in connection with the incident.
