Las Animas Co. deputies fired after Pueblo Co. Sheriff’s Office found the use of force unjustified

LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Two deputies with the Las Animas County Sheriff's Office (LACSO) have been fired following an investigation into an altercation in November of 2022.

According to Kenneth Espinoza's lawyer, Espinoza was driving behind his son in Trinidad when his son got pulled over by Dep. Mikhail Noel.

Lt. Henry Trujillo is seen on body-worn camera footage questioning why Espinoza was still there. He went on to tell Espinoza "You don't need to be here" and that he needed to go. Espinoza said "No he doesn't" and that he's waiting on his son and that his son is his ride back to Walsenburg.

Trujillo then said "Alright fine" and walked back to his police car. After, Noel walks up to Espinoza's truck. Noel Told him twice to leave. Then Trujillo said he could stay as Espinoza began to drive off. Noel then started to scream "stay" multiple times and tried to open Espinoza's side door.

Noel then pulls out his service pistol and points it at Espinoza's face- screaming at him to get "out of the [explicit] car."Espinoza begins to back up the car. Trujillo comes back and begins to scream at Espinoza to get out of the car while pointing his service pistol at his face.

Trujillo then starts grabbing Espinoza's arm from the driver's side, telling Espinoza to put the car in park. Espinoza responds telling Trujillo he did. Trujillo told Espinoza "Don't pull away from me or you're going to get lit up." Espinoza went on to say "You're breaking my arm man."

Eventually, Espinoza gets out of the car and Trujillo says he's under arrest. Espinoza's lawyer told KRDO that he was tased multiple times in this incident.

"He's got the scars. There's photographs of it. It's photographs from the jail of it. The Taser data back picks it up," said Kevin Mehr, Espinoza's lawyer.

In body-worn camera footage, Noel is heard telling another deputy that Espinoza tried to leave and he told him no. And then went on to claim that when Espinoza got out of his car he tried to "take off."

Espinoza was charged with resisting arrest and assault on a peace officer. Those charges were later dismissed.

KRDO previously reported that the LACSO refuted the claims levied by Espinoza and his lawyer. The department claimed Espinoza was only tased once and was never hit by deputies. However, following the investigation, LACSO Undersheriff Ray Santistevan admitted in a letter to the sheriff that there were "some errors" that he made and that they have been addressed so it doesn't happen again in the future.

Santistevan said in the letter that he was advised by another sheriff's office staff member to watch the body camera footage due to some concerns about how the call was handled. After watching the video, Santistevan said he realized there were some errors in how this situation was handled.

Santistevan said his first mistake was not reviewing all the body camera footage and documents before approving the use of force. He states he will not do this going forward. Santistevan said another mistake he made was not putting both deputies on administrative leave and starting an internal investigation right away. He ultimately found the use of force in this incident was not justified.

LACSO told KRDO the two deputies are no longer working with the department. The agency would not go into further detail regarding the incident.

The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) investigation report also found Trujillo and Noel did violate Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office policy. Investigators state there was neither probable cause violation of state law by Espinoza. PSCO said in its report that Trujillo did not notify their dispatch center he was making contact, or was at a traffic stop, further increasing liability to himself and LACSO for his misconduct.

Investigators found Trujillo’s and Noel’s communication was not specific or direct to Espinoza due to Trujillo’s frustration and Noel’s confusion. PSCO states it was unclear if Espinoza should have left the scene as originally ordered, or stayed as also ordered after initial contact. Their poor verbal skills and actions deescalated the situation leading to a presentation of deadly force, use of physical
force, use of less lethal tools, property damage, bodily injury, and false arrest, according to PSCO.

Based on the report, investigators with the PCSO noted that it's inherent the Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office considers the referral of a criminal investigation for the actions taken by Trujillo and Noel.

To watch the full body camera footage, click here.

Click here to view the full investigation report.