Week of March 30, 2026: Former Parker Police Explorer Program Advisor Arrested for Unlawful Sexual Conduct, and Most of Costilla County Sheriff’s Office Indicted by 12th DA

Welcome to my weekly sum-up. Every Monday I send out a short summary of the last week’s officers that have landed on Colorado’s Peace Officer Standards and Training public database of law enforcement misconduct and actions. They are not necessarily only actions that have happened in the last week, but those that have been added, and consist of any other context I could find. Additionally are officers with otherwise obvious misconduct.

This week we basically have a long list of criminal charges. 

Troy Brienzo (CO-8524-9275)

• Arrested on April 3, 2026 for unlawful sexual conduct as an officer for offenses from January this year.
• Charges include one count of unlawful sexual conduct through sexual contact against a victim contacted on-duty for the purpose of law enforcement — a felony; one count of unlawful sexual conduct through sexual contact against a victim contacted on-duty for the purpose of law enforcement where the officer made “any show of real or apparent authority” — a felony; and four counts of official misconduct — a misdemeanor.
• Resigned while under investigation as a sergeant with the Parker Police Department on Feb. 13
• Previously acted as advisor for the PPD explorer program, where youths 14 to 20 can “gain insight into law enforcement programs that offer hands-on career activities,” according to the program’s about page.
• Since joining PPD in early 2017, Brienzo has won multiple awards including Officer of the Year through Parker’s Rotary Club just last year.

Sources:

• POST Database
• Court dockets

Danny Sanchez (CO-115597)

• Resigned March 30 as sheriff of Costilla County Sheriff’s Office
• Indicted by the 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly on March 26, 2026 for four counts of official misconduct and one count of abuse of a corpse for offenses between October 2024 and August 2025. The next court date is set for April 14, 2026. According to the indictment, the misconduct charges were because he did not:
  • “notify the coroner when a death is discovered or confirmed as soon as practicable after the scene is safe and secure.”
  • “cooperate with the coroner to make all proper inquiry in order to determine the cause and manner of death of a person who died in his jurisdiction and whose remains are skeletonized.”
  • “prohibiting the removal of remains from the place of death prior to the arrival of the coroner or his or her designee or without the authority of the coroner or his or her designee and without justification for said removal.”
  • “immediately notify the coroner upon the discovery of skeletonized remains.”
• No actions on POST database
• No known former agencies

Sources:

• 12th DA Grand Jury Indictment of Danny Sanchez
• Alamosa Citizen

Keith Schultz (CO-130226)

• Terminated for cause as a deputy with Costilla County Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 18, 2025
• Arrested on Sept. 18, 2026 for six counts of official misconduct and five counts of cybercrime based on offenses from March 2024. The case is still open as of publishing with the next court date set for April 14, 2026.
• Indicted by the 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly on March 26, 2026 for four counts of official misconduct and one count of abuse of a corpse for offenses between October 2024 and August 2025. The next court date set for April 14, 2026. According to the indictment, the misconduct charges were because he did not:
  • “notify the coroner when a death is discovered or confirmed as soon as practicable after the scene is safe and secure.”
  • “cooperate with the coroner to make all proper inquiry in order to determine the cause and manner of death of a person who died in his jurisdiction and whose remains are skeletonized.”
  • “prohibiting the removal of remains from the place of death prior to the arrival of the coroner or his or her designee or without the authority of the coroner or his or her designee and without justification for said removal.”
  • “immediately notify the coroner upon the discovery of skeletonized remains.”

Sources:

• POST Database
• Court dockets
• 12th DA Grand Jury Indictment of Keith Schultz

Caleb Sanchez (CO-0150-9350)

• Indicted by the 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly on March 26, 2026 for one count of assault with a deadly weapon causing injury, and one count of knowingly or recklessly causing injury for an excessive force incident from February
  • According to the indictment, Costilla County Undersheriff Cruz Soto and Costilla County Sheriff’s Sergeant Sanchez responded to a man holding an arrow to his neck, appearing suicidal, saying his wife and children were missing and his wife was leaving him. The two officers convinced the man to drop the arrow after two hours and come to the sheriff’s office. A witness said they saw the man walking away from the sheriff’s office without aggressive behavior and heard officers outside, including Sanchez and Costilla County Sheriff’s Deputy Riley, issuing commands to not walk away from them. The officers fired multiple tasers at the man, the witness said no warnings were said before firing them, and the officers began yelling at him and handcuffing him.
  • The indictment describes the scene from body-camera footage of Sanchez at that time, stating that officers told the man to go to the hospital, the man began to walk away, was visibly agitated as he saw multiple deputies surrounding him, angrily expressed “being lied to” by them about going to the hospital voluntarily, and as he continued to walk away Riley told him to stop before firing his taser at the man. Sanchez fired as well, twice.
  • The indictment continues that it appeared no use of force investigation had been conducted and the officers had also failed to inform the sheriff of the incident.
• Previously terminated for cause as an officer with Blanca Police Department on Aug 28, 2024
• Son of now former Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez

Sources:

• POST Database
• Court dockets
• 12th DA Grand Jury Indictment of Caleb Sanchez

Roland Riley (CO-301-063)

• Indicted by the 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly on March 26, 2026 for one count of assault with a deadly weapon causing injury, and one count of knowingly or recklessly causing injury for an excessive force incident from February
  • According to the indictment, Costilla County Undersheriff Cruz Soto and Costilla County Sheriff’s Sergeant Caleb Sanchez responded to a man holding an arrow to his neck, appearing suicidal, saying his wife and children were missing and his wife was leaving him. The two officers convinced the man to drop the arrow after two hours and come to the sheriff’s office. A witness said they saw the man walking away from the sheriff’s office without aggressive behavior and heard officers outside, including Sanchez and Costilla County Sheriff’s Deputy Riley, issuing commands to not walk away from them. The officers fired multiple tasers at the man, the witness said no warnings were said before firing them, and the officers began yelling at him and handcuffing him.
  • The indictment describes the scene from body-camera footage of Sanchez at that time, stating that officers told the man to go to the hospital, the man began to walk away, was visibly agitated as he saw multiple deputies surrounding him, angrily expressed “being lied to” by them about going to the hospital voluntarily, and as he continued to walk away Riley told him to stop before firing his taser at the man. Sanchez fired as well, twice.
  • The indictment continues that it appeared no use of force investigation had been conducted and the officers had also failed to inform the sheriff of the incident.
• No POST actions
• No known former agencies

Sources:

• Court dockets
• 12th DA Grand Jury Indictment of Roland Riley

Cruz Soto (CO-119334)

• Indicted by the 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly on March 26, 2026 for two counts of failure to intervene, two counts of failure to report use of force and four counts of official misconduct
  • According to the indictment, Costilla County Undersheriff Soto and Costilla County Sheriff’s Sergeant Caleb Sanchez responded to a man holding an arrow to his neck, appearing suicidal, saying his wife and children were missing and his wife was leaving him. The two officers convinced the man to drop the arrow after two hours and come to the sheriff’s office. A witness said they saw the man walking away from the sheriff’s office without aggressive behavior and heard officers outside, including Sanchez and Costilla County Sheriff’s Deputy Roland Riley, issuing commands to not walk away from them. The officers fired multiple tasers at the man, the witness said no warnings were said before firing them, and the officers began yelling at him and handcuffing him.
  • The indictment describes the scene from body-camera footage of Sanchez at that time, stating that officers told the man to go to the hospital, the man began to walk away, was visibly agitated as he saw multiple deputies surrounding him, angrily expressed “being lied to” by them about going to the hospital voluntarily, and as he continued to walk away Deputy Roland Riley told him to stop before firing his taser at the man. Sanchez fired as well, twice.
  • The indictment continues that it appeared no use of force investigation had been conducted and the officers had also failed to inform the sheriff of the incident. Describing the reasons for Soto's charges, the indictment states “officers have a duty to report excessive use of force by other officers within 10 days. Undersheriff Soto did not report this to Sheriff Sanchez in a timely manner. Officers have a duty to intervene when witnessing other officers using excessive force. Undersheriff Soto failed to live up to this duty.”
• No POST actions
• No known former agencies

Sources

• Court Dockets
• 12th DA Grand Jury Indictment of Cruz Soto

Tyler Harford (CO-135501)

• Credibility report issued by Monte Vista Police Department on April 4, 2026
• Previously reported on here

Sources:

• POST Database

Diego Moreno (CO-002-008)

• Resigned while under investigation as an officer with Greenwood Village Police Department on March 30, 2026
• Credibility report issued by Greenwood Village Police Department on April 3, 2026
• Sworn into Greenwood Village Police Department in January 2022
• No known former agencies

Sources:

• POST database
• Greenwood Village Facebook page