MESA COUNTY, Utah — The Mesa County Sheriff's Office says they have placed one of its investigators, Alexander Zwinck, on leave following his sharing of information about a University of Utah student, leading to her detention by immigration agents.
Caroline Dias Goncalves had a hearing Wednesday to determine if she was a flight risk, where the judge issued a bond that, once paid, will result in her release from detention.
Goncalves was arrested last month after Zwinck pulled her over for a minor traffic violation and asked questions about where she was from before letting her go. Shortly afterwards, ICE agents arrived and arrested her.
"In our sustained effort to provide transparency and accountability into the incident involving Caroline Dias Goncalves and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), we are issuing the following statement," the Mesa County Sheriff's Office wrote in a release Thursday.
According to the sheriff's department, they will be conducting a full administrative investigation into the conduct of the office during and after the traffic stop of Goncalves. "The investigation includes reviewing communications from members of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office with our local, state, and federal partners via the communication group, Signal, to ensure Mesa County Sheriff’s Office employees included in that group communication acted within Mesa County Sheriff’s Office policies and Colorado law," the release said. Part of the investigation will be whether employees with the sheriff's office knew the information was being utilized for immigration enforcement.
Mesa County Sheriff's Office Investigator Alexander Zwinck is currently on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.
"We ask the public and our media partners to please allow us time as we conduct this investigation to ensure we hold ourselves accountable for our role in this incident and correct our practices and policies to comply with Colorado law," the office wrote.
Anyone with concerns or comments about the incident is asked to call a special phone line that was set up for the incident. That number is 970-244-3533.
