Update:  The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office deputies involved in this incident are Deputy Michael Hand and Deputy Phillip Peterson. Deputy Hand has been with the Sheriff’s Office for nine years and Deputy Peterson for three years. Both are currently assigned to the School Resource Unit. 

On April 24th,2024, Deputies with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Unit responded to a verbal altercation involving a large number of students in the parking lot at Central High School. 

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office is aware of the incident that transpired and the videos currently in circulation on social media. We take all issues involving any use of force very seriously. As a result, our Professional Standards Unit is currently engaged in a comprehensive internal investigation.

Our utmost priority is to conduct a thorough investigation of this incident. Anyone wishing to make a statement regarding the events that occurred is asked to contact our Professional Standards Unit at 970-244-3973. If anyone has any additional videos to provide, please email them to socomplaint@mesacounty.us.

We are gathering additional video of the incident, which is currently under review and will be released as quickly as possible.  Given that this incident involved many minors, we are taking extra care to redact their identities from the videos. We assure you that this process will be expedited as much as possible, ensuring the utmost protection of their privacy.