Press Release
03-02-26
On February 25th, 2026, at about 6:00PM Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ryland Geske was traveling eastbound on Highway 50 west of Poncha Springs, CO when he observed a vehicle traveling in front of him weaving. Deputy Geske activated his lights and sirens, but the driver of the vehicle refused to stop leading deputies on a slow speed pursuit through Poncha Springs.
Once the vehicle came to rest the driver, identified as Sanford Patrick Gardner age 37 from Salida, CO was taken into custody. Gardner was transported to the Chaffee County Jail where he was held on a $3,000.00 bond for the following charges:
Drove Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol/ Drugs or Both a class 1 Traffic Misdemeanor, Failed to Present Evidence of Insurance Upon Request a class 1 Traffic Misdemeanor, Drove a Motor Vehicle on a Highway While Driving Privilege Was Restrained a class 2 Traffic Misdemeanor, Attempt to Elude a Police Officer a class 2 Traffic Misdemeanor and Failure to Drive in a Single Lane a class A Traffic Infraction.
At the time of his arrest Gardner was out on bond for a similar incident that has not yet been resolved in court. In that incident, on November 7th, 2025, Gardner had also allegedly attempted to elude deputies but was apprehended after he also resisted arrest and assaulted a deputy. Gardner is set to appear in court on March 11th, 2026, for that case.
At the time of his arrest in November, Gardner was out on bond for another Driving Under the Influence case that allegedly occurred on October 5th, 2025, that too has not yet been resolved in court. Gardner is scheduled to appear in Chaffee County Combined Courts for the October arrest tomorrow, March 3rd, 2026.
Gardner is considered/ presumed innocent unless/until proven guilty in a court of law.
