ALAMOSA, Colo. (KOAA) — The 12th Judicial District Attorney's Office wants to hear from the Costilla County community regarding concerns of negative interactions with the sheriff's office.
The DA's Office is hosting an open forum at the Alamosa County Courthouse, which is located off of US Highway 285, on Thursday night to discuss the efforts to investigate these reports.
The forum will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. If you wish to attend the meeting virtually, click here.
Background Information
The 12th Judicial District Grand Jury has issued indictments for the now former sheriff, undersheriff, and three deputies in Costilla County.
- Watch News5's coverage of the indictments below:
According to the grand jury, now former Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez and former Deputy Keith Schultz were indicted on four counts of official misconduct and one count of abuse of a corpse for their handling of the discovery of unidentified human remains.
Court documents say the remains were discovered in the Wild Horse Mesa area in October, 2024. They say Sanchez and Schultz did the following:
- took a skull from the scene
- left the other remains behind
- failed to properly report the discovery
The documents also say Schultz put bones in a bag and left it unsecured on his desk. They say he went out on another call, and when he came back, the bag was gone.
Schultz was fired from the sheriff's office when he was arrested in a separate incident last year.
On Saturday, Sanchez resigned from his position as sheriff.
- Watch News5's coverage of Sanchez's resignation below:
On Monday, Costilla County Commissioners appointed Deputy Joe Smith to be the interim sheriff.
- Watch News5's coverage of Smith's appointment below:
The DA's Office says Sheriff Smith is the only full-time employee currently working at the sheriff's office.
- Watch News5's coverage of Sheriff Smith being the only employee below:
Sanchez's son, Sergeant Caleb Sanchez, and Deputy Roland Riley were also indicted by the grand jury on counts of second and third-degree assault for use of force in an incident involving a community member having a mental health crisis.
Court documents say the community member was unarmed and suffered a broken rib after being tased by Sergeant Sanchez during the incident. It says days later, Sergeant Sanchez said he was "too new" to understand what happened.
The grand jury also indicted Undersheriff Cruz Soto on the following charges related to that incident:
- four counts of official misconduct
- two counts of failing to intervene
- two counts of failure to report
- one count of third-degree assault
Undersheriff Soto, Sergeant Sanchez, and Deputy Riley have been placed on administrative leave.
The indictments follow an investigation by the 12th Judicial District Attorney's Office. You can view them below:
Now, former Sheriff Sanchez:
Sergeant Sanchez:
Undersheriff Soto:
Former Deputy Schultz:
Deputy Riley:
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You might have seen a unique aircraft in the skies of Colorado Springs Monday. There's plenty of social media buzz about it.
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