Glow festival sculpture: Chrissy Goral's mixed media art uses metal, glass and fabric and is illuminated from within by twinkling lights.

Courtesy of Adrienne Lake / AZNightBuzz.com

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The Pinal County Sheriff's Office is investigating whether any misconduct took place Saturday when deputies shut down the second day of the third annual Glow arts and light festival in Oracle.

"We're doing an investigation into their decision — why they felt they had to shut it down — and their (the deputies') demeanor," said Sheriff Chris Vasquez.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the office had received 36 complaints about deputies' behavior Saturday night, Lt. Don Gowanlock said Tuesday.

"They stormed the stage and started yelling at us. You just didn't know what was going on," said Gary Mackender, band leader of The Carnivaleros. The band was setting up on stage when deputies entered the gate of Triangle L Ranch Bed and Breakfast, where Glow took place.

Triangle L Ranch is off West Oracle Ranch Road.

"The Gestapo is coming. This is our tax dollars at work," Mackender said he announced when he saw deputies come toward the stage.

Deputies Ben Parry and Danny Richardson put Mackender in handcuffs and moved him off the stage "before any additional inflammatory remarks could be made to incite the crowd," Deputy Randall Snyder wrote in the police report.

"They said I was trying to start a riot," Mackender said.

Snyder went on stage and told the audience over the microphone that the event was being shut down and ordered Glow attendees to leave.

When no one moved, he said "any vehicles still creating a hazard in the next 10 minutes would be subject to impound," Snyder wrote.

This statement caused families and couples who had gathered for Glow, including "elderly people with walkers," to rush toward their cars, said Sharon Holnback, the woman who organized Glow and owns Triangle L Ranch.

"If anyone was trying to make a riot, it was them," Mackender said.

Gowanlock has been conducting an investigation of the deputies' actions since Sunday and estimated that it could take weeks to complete.

"It's very involved. There are a lot of people to talk to," he said.

Vasquez met with Holnback on Tuesday morning to discuss what happened and what will happen next, he said.

"I really appreciate them responding in such a quick manner. They're trying to do the right thing," Holnback said.

Sheriff's deputies arrived Saturday night at what they perceived to be a "large party" at the ranch.

The department had received several noise and parking complaints from neighbors, said Vasquez.

Snyder arrived in the area of the ranch to find "400-plus" cars parked along both sides of Rockcliff Road and West Oracle Ranch Road in "a fashion that impeded the flow of traffic and was causing a hazard," he wrote in the police report.

An emergency vehicle would not have been able to fit between the parked cars, he wrote.

Snyder spoke to Holnback and learned that she did not have a written permit for the event. But Holnback said she had received permission from Pinal County's Planning and Zoning Commission.

She met "with a panel of people in Florence" several weeks before the event, she said.

"This year I wanted to go through the proper channels. It was a bit short notice. I met with people from the planning and zoning departments in the county. We addressed all the possible issues," she said.

One of the people with whom Holnback met was Pinal County District 1 Supervisor Lionel Ruiz.

"They came to me," Ruiz said. "They were trying to make sure nothing would happen. It was kind of late to get a process (for a written permit) started, but we told them next year they would have to get a permit."

The county told Holnback that although she would have to get a written permit next year, Glow could take place this year without one, Ruiz said.

"As far as the county in general (was concerned), there was no problem. They've had it (Glow) for the last few years," Ruiz said.

But the Sheriff's Office didn't receive any information stating that the event had been approved, Vasquez said.

"There was a breakdown of communication" between Planning and Zoning and the police, he said. "Sharon did everything proper to put the event on," he said.