Woman handcuffed in Platteville police car hit by train receives $8.5M settlement

Rios, then 20, was pulled over by Platteville PD on Sept. 16, 2022, after a road rage incident that involved “menacing with a handgun.” Shortly afterward, Steinke and then Thomeczek arrived to help, and Steinke put Rios in the back of Vazquez’s patrol car. Vazquez had parked on railroad tracks.
Steinke testified that she did not realize where the car was parked, though the tracks and railroad crossing. She was found guilty of reckless endangerment and assault, fired and sentenced to serve 2 1/2 years of supervised probation. Vazquez pleaded guilty to one count of reckless endangerment and was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation.

Rios-Gonzalez suffered a traumatic brain injury, numerous broken ribs, a broken leg, and a broken back