Denver — Five of seven law enforcement officers in a rural Colorado county, including the city’s sheriff, have been charged in an investigation into allegations of misconduct, prosecutors said Friday.
A grand jury has indicted Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez and former Deputy Keith Schultz on charges of mishandling human remains discovered in October 2024, according to court documents. The man who found the remains and notified the sheriff’s office said Sanchez and Schultz only took the skull and left the other remains behind, including the teeth, court documents state.
The documents indicate that two months passed before Schultz wrote a report saying that he left the bones in a bag on his desk and made another call. A coroner’s official said he received the skull in an unlabeled paper bag from the sheriff’s office, documents state.
Separately, Undersheriff Cruz Soto, Sgt. Caleb Sanchez — the sheriff’s son — and his deputy, Roland Riley, were charged in connection with the use of a stun gun on a man who was having a mental health crisis in February and tried to leave when they insisted on going to the hospital, according to documents. The man said he was “manhandled” by deputies and suffered 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 are 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 perpetrator.
“I cannot and will not ignore violations of the trust that the community has in their police,” Kelly said at a news conference Friday evening. “No citizen of the San Luis Valley should have any doubt about the integrity of their police force.”
A person who answered the phone Friday at the sheriff’s office said he 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 attorney Peter Kumar. The AP left a message Friday for Kumar seeking comment.
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Associated Press reporter Med Grover contributed to this report.