Man arrested on first degree assault charge

by Eric Mullens
HUERFANO— Huerfano County Sheriff Bruce Newman said a Walsenburg man was arrested Tuesday night November 22 following an alleged fight in which the other combatant received a serious head wound.
Newman said Robert James Sandoval, 46, of Walsenburg was taken into custody and charged with first degree assault after the fight on Bear Creek Road (CR 340) Tuesday evening.
When initially notified, responding officers thought they were dealing with a possible homicide. The dispatch message, according to Huerfano County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Quintana’s affidavit, sent officers to the location regarding an assault and a deceased person.
Walsenburg city officer Joe Deatherage was also at the scene and contacted one of the individuals who reported the incident.
Quintana said in the affidavit that he was following the sheriff on the county road to the crime scene shortly after 8 pm when he saw Newman stop his vehicle and get out. When Quintana exited his vehicle he saw the suspect, Sandoval, with his hands raised in the air telling Newman, “ I didn’t do anything wrong, Roger is over there.” Quintana said Sandoval pointed in a southerly direction along CR 340.
At about 8:20 pm Sandoval was taken into custody, and Quintana drove about one mile south on the county road where Roger Vigil (no other information was provided) was found face down on the ground by Quintana and Newman.
Vigil was rolled over by the deputy and the sheriff and appeared lifeless, according to the affidavit. Quintana checked the victim for a pulse and found it to be very faint with no consistency to it. Emergency medical personnel were notified to respond to the location. Deputies Hank Martin and Ray Walsh arrived at the scene shortly after the victim was found.
Quintana wrote in the affidavit that Vigil was falling in and out of consciencess and at one point quit breathing all together. Quintana administered lifesaving first aid, clearing the victim’s airways and beginning CPR. He said on his first chest compression thrust, Vigil took a large breath and attempted to speak.
The affidavit indicates Vigil’s condition continued to deteriorate as rescue personnel arrived and he was transported to Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center then transferred via Flight for Life to a metro area hospital.
Witnesses to the incident told authorities Sandoval and Vigil began to fight inside the truck they were all riding around in. One witness, Terry Sandoval, told both men they needed to get out of the truck and deal with their issue in the street. He told the investigating officers, when he had driven down the road far enough to turn the truck around he found Robert Sandoval standing over Roger Vigil. The witness also told Quintana the body of Vigil was found in a different spot than where he had last been seen.
Sandoval made his first court appearance on Wed. Nov 23 and was charged with first degree assault, a class three felony. Bond in the case has been set at $45,000 cash-only and the defendant is next scheduled to appear in court on December 12, 2011.
No information regarding the medical condition of the victim, or the location where he was transported to, was available at press time.