Colorado police have released footage of the moment a train slammed into a police car with a woman handcuffed inside.
WARNING: This article contains upsetting content.On Friday, the Fort Lupton Police Department released body and dashcam footage that showed a speeding train hit a parked police car, with Yareni Rios-Gonzalez inside.
Per CNN, Rios-Gonzalez is in a critical condition and in hospital, but is fortunately expected to survive.
The footage of the incident, which occurred on the evening of September 16, shows Rios-Gonzalez - who was a suspect in a road-rage incident - asking why she was being pulled over. She is subsequently handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car, which had been pulled over on railroad tracks.
Several minutes pass as officers search the woman's vehicle, checking to see if there were any others in the car, or whether Rios-Gonzalez was in possession of any weapons. As they search, one of the officers can be heard saying: "Did you see her toss anything?"
Another officer replies: "She could have because when I was behind her she was driving slow enough that she could have tossed something back."
Then, a train horn can be heard blaring in the distance - and the officers back away from the vehicles as a train slams into the police car, with Rios-Gonzalez still inside.
An attorney acting on behalf of Rios-Gonzalez, Paul Wilkinson, told CNN: "When she was in the back of the car, she was able to see the train coming. She was frantically trying to escape, trying to open the doors, but she was handcuffed.
"I don't know if they just couldn't hear her or if they were too busy searching her car, but she saw it coming and prepared for the worst. And as you can imagine, lost consciousness and woke up at the hospital. She's obviously very upset."
Per The Denver Post, it was revealed that the 20-year-old suffered multiple injuries after the train accident - including a broken arm, a fractured sternum, nine broken ribs, head injuries, and broken teeth.
People have taken to Twitter to denounce the incident, with one person writing that the police officers should receive punishment: "Police abandon handcuffed woman in squad car parked on tracks as train approaches. Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, suffered 9 broken ribs, broken arm, broken teeth, head, back and leg injuries, as cops fled. Paid leave for the cop."
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation released a statement saying that: "While specific details cannot be provided, CBI agents are actively investigating its portion of the case through interviews and a comprehensive review of evidentiary material from the scene." The press release also revealed that the agents would be investigating serious bodily injury.
The Platteville Police Department, who assisted Fort Lupton Police on the evening of the incident, wrote on their Facebook page that they would be "fully cooperating with all relevant investigations and will await findings on the specific involvement of its employee in this matter."