CRESTONE — Katrie Christopher thought she was performing a community service in December 2019 when she rented her home to two Saguache County deputies who were stationed in Crestone at the new substation, a service many Crestone residents had requested for years.
“This would be a win for not only myself, but for the officers, and the community as well,” Christopher wrote in her report. “Response time to Crestone would be cut drastically. It seemed beneficial to all.”
Christopher was in Florida for medical treatments and felt safe with the arrangement, believing the deputies could keep an eye on her home while she was gone. She only requested a nominal rent, asking them to feed her animals and perform some simple household duties. She also set out some household rules.
When she met with Sheriff Dan Warwick and Officer Dom Vasquez about renting her home, she said Vasquez seemed “very agreeable” to the rules. Vasquez was to be responsible for Officer Nate Randall, the second officer sharing the home. Christopher charged each officer $100 a month for rent which was to be placed in a can on the kitchen counter.
Troubling reports
After the officers moved in and Christopher left for Florida, she began receiving reports from a friend who came in once a week to clean that the house was filthy and foul smelling and she had to spend longer than usual cleaning it up. Christopher contacted the officers to speak to them about it but she said in her complaint that they “downplayed” everything.
To compensate her friend for the extra time spent cleaning, Christopher told her to take money from the rent can on the counter, but the can had disappeared. Based on the amount in the can when she left, Christopher estimated that the officers paid a total of $40 in rent while they stayed in her home.
Christopher’s friend also told her Vasquez had moved his partner from Brazil into the home without her knowledge or permission. Christopher said she and Vasquez then argued through texts about this since it was not part of the rental agreement.
When the officers missed an appointment to install a new cookstove, part of the rental agreement, Christopher contacted Vasquez and the conversation escalated into a shouting match. Vasquez threatened to disconnect the stove and Christopher told him he and Randal had 30 days to vacate her home.
On Jan. 2, Christopher came back to Crestone to check on her home. In her report, she describes what she found.
The first thing she saw was the broken windshield of her Dodge truck, something that was not the case when she left. The truck bed also was filled with mud, she said, and she later found it was running poorly. Officers denied they were responsible for the broken windshield or the truck’s condition.
When she entered her home, “The rancid kaleidoscope of smells was so thick it took my breath away. Walking into the kitchen was disgusting. Every counter was covered in filth. Every cabinet and drawer was/is still nasty.  Food on the ceiling. Blood on the floor. The refrigerator was a disgusting mess. The smell was terrible, and…raw chicken juices [were] puddled and stuck on the glass [refrigerator] shelves. The kitchen sink had dried food caked on it.”
She also found her bedroom in disarray, when she had told the men not to sleep there. Christopher alleges that cannabis and alcohol products were missing from her home, also her daughter’s PS4 device and headphones, which were later located and returned by Deputy Wayne Clark.
Christopher says she is compiling a complete list of the missing items and damages to her property. According to Christopher’s report, Vasquez also has filed a report with the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Warwick responds
One of the deputy employees in question no longer works for the county, Warwick announced, and disciplinary actions that cannot be described are being taken with the other deputy.
“The deputies did admit using her truck,” Sheriff Dan Warwick said. “I am not saying what she is saying is false and I am not saying it is all correct. It has been taken to the District Attorney and actions are being taken to correct any wrongdoing.” Warwick says he couldn’t say much more because there are internal matters he cannot discuss.
Warwick said any disciplinary actions “won’t make her (Christopher) whole again,” adding that he has “talked to her and apologized.” He said that overall it is a landlord/tenant dispute involving moral and civil violations. If criminal violations are discovered to exist, then these also will be addressed, Warwick said.
The incident is unfortunate, Warwick observed, because it will hamper the Sheriff’s Office from housing any future deputies in Crestone. “Deputies will now be responsible for their own housing,” he said. “I will not ask the county to pay for it anymore.”
The deputies had only been with the Sheriff’s Office for a few months and Warwick indicated he had no way of knowing whether or not there were any problems beforehand within such a short time span.