A routine arrest took a sudden, catastrophic turn late last night when a police patrol vehicle, with a handcuffed woman secured inside, was struck by a freight train directly on a railroad crossing. The woman, identified as a 20-year-old suspect who had just been taken into custody, suffered severe injuries in the shocking collision.
The incident occurred near Highway 85 around 10:30 p.m. Police had stopped the woman’s vehicle and placed her in the back of the police cruiser, which was parked directly on the active railroad tracks near the roadside. The image, captured from dashcam or bodycam footage, shows the patrol truck sitting stationary just moments before impact.
“It was an absolute scene of chaos and horror,” stated Chief Marcus Jensen of the local police department. “The officer involved was out of the vehicle at the time, securing the suspect’s car, but the patrol vehicle was fully occupied by the suspect when the train approached.”
Despite the emergency lights and blaring horn of the oncoming train, the police vehicle was unable to move out of the way in time. The train struck the rear passenger side of the truck—the side where the suspect was seated. The impact instantly demolished the vehicle.
Emergency medical crews were rushed to the scene. The suspect was pulled from the wreckage and immediately transported to a trauma center with critical injuries. The officer involved was uninjured but severely shaken.
The case has immediately drawn national attention and prompted multiple investigations, including an internal police review and a separate probe by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Authorities are intensely scrutinizing the actions of the officer who left the patrol vehicle parked on the railway tracks—a decision that turned a minor traffic stop into a devastating disaster.