by Bill Knowles
TRINIDAD – Trinidad Police responded to a domestic disturbance call in the 1500 block of Atchison around 12:45 a.m. Thursday morning, January 14. They interviewed Chris Vigil, the husband of Las Animas County Clerk and Recorder Patricia “Peach” Vigil.
According to Dylan Vigil, a resident at the house, everything had been going well until Ms. Vigil arrived at the residence and then she and Chris Vigil, her husband, began fighting. Officers took Mr. Vigil to the Cross Roads Detox facility.
Officers were called back to the Atchison address at around 1:30 a.m. on another disturbance call where they were met by Ms. Vigil who was in the garage of the residence. She indicated she was upset with Dylan Vigil, who wouldn’t give her the keys to his pickup truck, which is registered in her name.
Ms. Vigil, according to police reports, appeared to be under the influence of alcohol at the time and was being belligerent and aggressive towards both the officers and the occupants of the residence. She was “screaming and yelling at Dylan to give her the keys to the truck”, according to statements made by officers in the Affidavit for Warrantless Arrest. Ms. Vigil was demanding that Dylan and his friends leave the residence, but officers refused to allow them to drive because they too were under the influence of alcohol.
By then Chris had come back from the Cross Roads Detox facility. Meeting him at the garage, Ms. Vigil threw down the gauntlet telling her husband that either Dylan and his friends leave, or she would leave. The couple left the garage and went out to the driveway where Ms. Vigil continued yelling at her husband “causing an immediate breach of the peace”. Officers warned Ms. Vigil to stop screaming.
According to the police report, Ms. Vigil said she would leave the residence and turned and walked toward the garage. Halfway there she stopped and said she pays half the payment for the house, so she wasn’t leaving. It was then that she struck Chris in his stomach with her elbow.
Officers then put Ms. Vigil in custody, handcuffing her and walking her to a patrol car. She struggled, refusing to enter the vehicle, and once inside the police cruiser she attempted to keep officers from closing the door by using her legs. Chris Vigil was also trying to keep officers from taking Ms. Vigil into custody.
Ms. Vigil was taken into the Cross Roads Detox facility, where she was booked on charges of harassment and domestic violence and placed on hold.
On January 8, 2021, Ms. Vigil was stopped and arrested in Castle Rock for driving under the influence, careless driving, and having an open container of alcohol in her vehicle. She was released on $1,000 personal recognizance bond and had a court appearance in Douglas County on February 8, 2021.
