A 20-year-old woman inside a police car parked on railroad tracks north of Platteville was injured when a train struck the vehicle, Colorado officials said. A press release from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said a Platteville police officer investigating a road rage incident stopped the woman at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 16, near US 85 and Weld County Road 38. The woman stopped “just beyond the railroad tracks” and the officer stopped behind her “on the tracks,” the release said. Two Fort Lupton police officers arrived and arrested the woman, a Greeley resident, who was suspected of having a gun, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said. Officers placed the woman in the back of the Platteville patrol officer’s patrol car and went to search her vehicle, the release said. A train traveling north then hit the police car, the agency said. The woman was hospitalized with a “significant brain injury,” the Colorado State Patrol told KMGH. No police officers were injured in the crash. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado State Patrol and Fort Lupton Police are investigating. There were 236 train crossing deaths and 668 crossing injuries in 2021 in the U.S., according to Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit group that promotes rail safety. Platteville is a town of 3,000 about 35 miles north of Denver. This story was originally published on September 18, 2022 at 9:18 am. Don Sweeney has been a California newspaper reporter and editor for more than 25 years. He has been a real-time reporter based at The Sacramento Bee since 2016.
