WALSENBURG, CO — A track meet abruptly ended in Walsenburg Thursday after a man allegedly tried to run over a student following a verbal argument.
The Huerfano County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post Thursday, that they received calls about a man attempting to run over students at the RE1 sports complex near John Mall High School.
As deputies were responding they were informed the suspect was located in the John Mall High School parking lot, the parking lot was cleared and deputies were not able to locate the suspect. Sheriff Bruce Newman and K9 Sergeant Roman Hijar responded to the field where they were able to locate and detain 42-year-old Jose Luis Mendez.
Following Medez's arrest deputies began to look for witnesses and victims or more suspects in the area, one witness and uninjured victim came forward to deputies where they explained the events that had happened.
According to the witness and the victim, Mendez became verbally aggressive during an argument with the victim before allegedly attempting to run that person over.
The sheriff's office says no gun was involved in this incident and nobody was injured as a of the altercation.
Mendez was arrested for several charges along with several County warrants.
The sheriff's office credits parents, school staff, and visiting schools who took quick
action to make sure students were safe.
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