(CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo.) — A man has been arrested after he allegedly refused to pull over for a Chaffee County deputy during a traffic stop and then assaulted responding law enforcement during his arrest.
According to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), around 11:40 p.m. on Nov. 7, a CCSO deputy, Jesse Cam, tried to pull over a car heading northbound on Highway 291 north of Salida for alleged erratic driving and “equipment violations.” The driver refused to stop and led the deputy on a chase to a home on Happy Jack Lane in Chaffee County.
Once the car stopped at the home, the driver tried to run from the deputy and a Salida Police officer who responded to assist. The officer and deputy were eventually able to detain the driver before he went inside the home, but during the arrest, the driver, identified as 37-year-old Sanford Gardner, allegedly hit the officers and fought with them. CCSO said the deputy and officer received only minor injuries.
Gardner was taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries before being transported to the Chaffee County Detention Facility and booked on a slew of charges:
Felony eluding
Second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer
Resisting arrest
Driving a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs/alcohol
Reckless driving
Failure to drive in a single lane
Operating a motor vehicle with defective tail lamps
Gardner is being held on a $5,000 bond.

