Grand jury indicts over half the officers in a rural Colorado county
DENVER– Five of seven law enforcement officers in a rural Colorado county, including the sheriff, have been charged as part of an investigation into allegations of misconduct, prosecutors announced Friday.
A grand jury indicted Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez and former Deputy Keith Schultz on charges of allegedly mishandling human remains discovered in October 2024, according to court documents. A man who found the remains and reported them to the sheriff’s office said Sanchez and Schultz took only the skull and left the other remains behind, including the teeth, according to court documents.
Two months passed before Schultz wrote a report, saying he had left bones in a bag on his desk and responded to another call, according to the documents. A coroner’s official said he received the skull in an unlabeled paper bag from the sheriff’s office, documents show.
Additionally, Undersheriff Cruz Soto, Sgt. Caleb Sanchez — the sheriff’s son — and Deputy Roland Riley are charged with using a Taser on a man who was suffering a mental health crisis in February and who tried to leave when they insisted he go to the hospital, documents show. The man said he was “roughed up” by the deputies and was left with broken ribs, according to the indictments.
Soto was charged with failure to intervene and third-degree assault, according to court documents. Caleb Sanchez and Riley were charged with second- and third-degree assault.
In announcing the indictments, 12th District Attorney Anne Kelly said she was committed to investigating and prosecuting crimes, regardless of the offender.
“I cannot and will not ignore violations of the trust a community should have in its police. No citizen of the San Luis Valley should have any doubt about the integrity of its police force,” Kelly said during a news conference Friday evening.
A person who answered the phone Friday at the sheriff’s office said they had no immediate comment but planned to post a statement online. The phone numbers listed for Danny Sanchez, Soto and Riley did not work. Caleb Sanchez did not have a number listed. An unidentified person who answered a number for Schultz referred The Associated Press to an attorney, Peter Comar. The AP left a message Friday with Comar seeking comment.
_____
Associated Press reporter Mead Gruver contributed to this report.
