Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple today forcefully rejected claims that federal immigration agents were operating alongside deputies during traffic stops along State Route 347 north of Maricopa, calling the reports irresponsible and false.

“These agitators need to stop crying wolf every time they see a law enforcement officer who is not in a fully marked patrol car,” Teeple said in a statement to InMaricopa.

Teeple said the activity reported yesterday was a routine traffic enforcement effort, not immigration related.

“On Feb. 9, our uniformed traffic deputies were working with Maricopa Police Department on a saturation patrol looking for speeders,” he said. “Four PCSO deputies made 27 stops and wrote a total of 21 tickets. One person was arrested, and it was for DUI.”

The sheriff directly attacked the credibility of the legal observers who initially flagged the activity.

“These so-called observers have no credibility and do not deserve to be taken seriously,” Teeple said.

The original reports came from Rural Arizona Engagement, also known as RAZE, whose volunteers said they observed vehicles they believed were linked to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during stops conducted by Pinal County Sheriff’s Office deputies. Alerts were amplified on social media by Protect Our Pueblos, including posts in Spanish-language Maricopa Facebook groups.

Teeple also pointed InMaricopa to two Facebook videos he posted in 2025 in which he criticizes immigration observers for misidentifying law enforcement activity as ICE operations. The videos are captioned “Protesting a Drug Bust?” and show deputies making arrests while being confronted by protesters.

In one video, Teeple accuses “idiots” of “showing up, protesting, thinking [deputies] are ICE.”

“While they’re there throwing tantrums, we’re throwing handcuffs on bad guys,” Teeple says in the footage, which depicts the arrests of two U.S. citizens on gun and weapons charges. Observers can be heard yelling insults at the sheriff, including calling him a “piece of sh*t” and a “sellout motherf*cker.”

The sheriff’s statement comes amid heightened public scrutiny of immigration enforcement in Arizona and lingering uncertainty surrounding Pinal County’s defunct 287(g) agreement. A court previously ruled the agreement void, though ICE has said it would continue enforcing it despite the ruling.

That uncertainty deepened during the traffic detail on Monday, when the Pinal County Board of Supervisors filed a lawsuit seeking to block County Attorney Brad Miller from implementing the 287(g) agreement. A Pinal County Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order later yesterday, halting enforcement and setting a Feb. 25 hearing.