(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) — The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO) arrested a “violent, prolific offender” while conducting a routine check in the Cimarron Hills area.

On Sunday, April 20, EPSO patrol deputies conducted a routine check around the Econolodge Hotel on Panament Court in the Cimarron Hills area near Peterson Road when they observed a white Chevrolet pickup truck leaving the parking lot that matched a recent crime report.

As the car drove past the deputies, they observed that the license plate cover was dark-tinted and obscured the temporary license plate. Deputies followed the car and made a traffic stop near Nez Perce Drive and Peterson Road before stopping at Western Drive and Chiricahua Drive near Galley Road.

Once stopped, the deputies identified the driver as 28-year-old Mesha Hartman and confirmed the license plate was fake, and the vehicle had been reported stolen to the Colorado Springs Police Department in March 2025.

During a search of the car, multiple items of drug paraphernalia were discovered along with narcotics and a firearm. Hartman was on parole during the time of the incident for motor vehicle thefts, narcotics, and prior weapons violations.

“I am grateful for my deputy’s attention to detail, ultimately leading to the arrest and getting a known career criminal off our streets,” said El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal. “Mesha Hartman is another example of the Colorado legislature’s soft approach to offenders in our state. This individual was allowed back into our community and victimized more community members when, ultimately, they should have remained in prison and served the entirety of their sentence.

Hartman was taken into custody and booked into the El Paso County Jail for charges of Possession of a weapon by Previous Offender, Motor Vehicle Theft, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Fictitious Registration.