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A hectic accident involving a train and police car on Friday left one woman with major brain injuries.
The incident began on Friday night near the town of Platteville, located in Weld County, Colorado, north of Denver. Local police officers had been responding to reports about a road rage incident involving a gun in the nearby town of Fort Lupton when they pulled over a 20-year-old woman believed to be a suspect, according to The Denver Post.
As she was hailed by police, the woman pulled over onto the side of the road just ahead of a set of railroad tracks, with the officer parking the patrol car on the tracks themselves. They were soon after joined by two officers from Fort Lupton.
During the stop, the woman, suspected on charges of felony menacing, was removed from her vehicle and placed in the back of the Platteville Police squad car.
The officers then proceeded to search the woman's vehicle. This, according to an official press release from the police department, is when the train appeared.
"While the officers cleared the suspect vehicle as part of the investigation, a train traveling northbound struck the PPD patrol car," the statement read.
The woman suffered major injuries in the crash and was swiftly taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. While the exact nature of her injuries has not been reported as of Monday, ABC 7 Denver reported that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had said she suffered "serious bodily injuries."
None of the officers involved in the stop suffered any injuries during the incident, nor were any of the train's crew members. The train that collided with their car also managed to stay on the tracks, preventing a derailment and sparing the situation from further chaos. Union Pacific, the railroad company that operates the train, has been notified of the incident.
The CBI has officially taken over the investigation into the injuries suffered by the woman while in police custody. Several other local agencies, including the Fort Lupton Police Department and the Colorado State Patrol, are also involved in the broader investigation.
"The Town of Platteville is cooperatively working with CBI and CSP during their investigation regarding this incident," Platteville Police Chief Carl Dwyer said in a statement to Law & Crime. "The Platteville Police Department has nothing to add to CBI's press release yesterday."
Newsweek reached out to the CBI for comment.
About the writer
Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more