Michael Minetta

"After your visit, Archie, I made it my personal mission to catch the man who invaded your home. An anonymous tip led to the suspect, and when we went to question him... Well, unfortunately, he engaged us in a firefight, and we were forced to take him down. He's dead, but he's the guy, no question."

- Sheriff Minetta to Archie and Fred

Michael Minetta is a recurring character in the second season of The CW's Riverdale. He is portrayed by Henderson Wade.

He was hired by Hiram Lodge to replace Tom Keller as the sheriff of Riverdale.

Throughout Riverdale

 * -|Season 2=

Season 2
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There's a New Sheriff in Town
Sheriff Minetta and Hiram greet Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones as they enter the sheriff station. Hiram had already told the Sheriff all about Archie and Jughead. Jughead explains that he stopped by to ask about the documentary footage that he lent to Sheriff Keller before he stepped down. So, Minetta escorts him to the Sheriff's office for a chat.

That night, Sheriff Minetta heads over to the Andrews house after learning that Fred Andrews had received a letter from the Black Hood. According to Fred, it was pinned to the front door. Also at the Andrews house is Hiram and Hermione, who both want to cancel the mayoral debate, along with Archie, but Fred wants to go on. With that being said, Sheriff Minetta can at least tighten security at Town Hall.

The next day, Sheriff Minetta arrives at Riverdale High School in search of Southside Serpent Fangs Fogarty, who he believes may be involved in the death of Midge Klump following the discovery of Jughead's documentary footage from the school musical. When Fangs attempts to flee, Sheriff Minetta wrestles him to a wall as he resists arrest. In doing so, a switchblade falls out of Fangs' pocket. Seeing this, Sheriff Minetta slams Fangs onto the ground before cuffing him.

Sheriff Minetta interrogates Fangs at the station. He demands to know what Fangs was doing inside Midge's dressing room the night of the play. Fangs insists that they were only talking, but it's clear Sheriff Minetta already suspects him of being the killer. Attorney McCoy brings an end to the interrogation, telling Fangs not to say another word and stating that she'll be representing him from here on out.

Following the interrogation, Sheriff Minetta and his deputies secure the mayoral debate. However, not long after it's start, the Black Hood begins shooting from the balcony with a rifle.

After failing to apprehend the shooter, Sheriff Minetta returns to the Sheriff station, where Fred remarks that Sheriff Keller isn't looking so bad considering that Sheriff Minetta failed to secure the debate. Sheriff Minetta explains that there's a trap door leading from the balcony to the roof that isn't on any building plans. Sheriff Minetta then informs Hiram that he's got cars all over downtown. The shooter's not going to get far. He assures Hiram they'll catch him before the night's end. Given that Archie's come face-to-face with the Black Hood, looking him right in the eyes, Hiram suggests taking Archie along to help identify him. When asked if he's up for a ride along, Archie looks to his dad and decides to go home with him to ensure his safety.

Although, what happened at the debate and what happened to Midge are being treated as separate incidences, if Minetta doesn't charge Fangs within the next hour, he'll be released, and unfortunately, that's what he's forced to do. However, with Fangs arrest and upcoming release, outraged residents have formed outside the station. Jughead tells Sheriff Minetta that the can't take Fangs out front, and that they should take the side exit. However, a crowd has formed out there as well, meaning the station is surrounded, which is not the Sheriff's problem as far as he's concerned.

After learning that Fangs Fogarty was shot outside of the station, Sheriff Minetta arrives at Riverdale General Hospital. He explains to Jughead and FP that he'd like to talk to Fangs when he wakes up. Jughead questions why the Sheriff isn't searching the streets for Fangs' shooter, to which the Sheriff replies that he has already issued a manhunt. However, the Serpents aren't making things easy with their rioting and terrorizing of the neighborhood. A few of them have already been arrested. FP interjects that the Serpents wouldn't be rioting and Fangs would've have been shot if the Sheriff had done his job in the first place. While Sheriff Minetta doesn't know the details of FP's parole, he remarks that harassing an officer would certainly violate it.

The Sheriff returns to the station to coordinate with Hermione, who is offering a $1,000,000 reward for anyone who can deliver them the Black Hood.

Minetta calls Archie down to the sheriff station to identify Hal Cooper as the Black Hood. Archie and Sheriff Minetta watch as a deputy places a black hood over Hal's head. When he does, Archie instantly identifies Hal as the man who shot his father at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. Archie goes onto say that Hal is only one of the Black Hoods however. Archie continues his discussion with Minetta in his office. Sheriff Minetta isn't convinced that there is a second Black Hood. He tells Archie that a lot of people took advantage of riot night. They had multiple reports of looters wearing black ski-masks. However, Archie insists that the man who broke into their house was the Black Hood and not a looter.While Minetta may not be taking this seriously, Archie is. He won't stop until he finds the second Black Hood. He then tells Minetta to relay this to Hiram.

The next day, Minetta calls Archie and Fred down to the station. Once there, Sheriff Minetta reveals that they supposedly caught the man who invaded their home and shot Fred. An anonymous tip lead to a suspect. When they went to question him, he engaged law enforcement in a shootout, which lead to his death. They're positive they got the right man as they found guns on the premises that matched the ones used at both the attacks. They also found a black hood. As for the man under the hood, Sheriff Minetta claims it was en ex-gang member, Gerald Petite. Also known as Tall Boy.

That night, Sheriff Minetta and his deputies raided the Whyte Wyrm with the intent to spill Serpent blood, but without a Serpent in sight, they were out of luck. Unbeknownst to Minetta, the Serpents had been warned of his raid by Archie, Jughead, and Cheryl, providing them with enough time to seek refuge on the north side.

Later that week, back on the south side, at the Whyte Wyrm, Sheriff Minetta, Penelope Blossom, Claudius Blossom, Penny Peabody and Malachai are called in by Hiram. It's been months in the making but the time has finally arrived. Hiram welcomes them all to New Southside. Penelope asks about Hermione, who Hiram explains can't be privy to certain machinations now that she's mayor. But the plan remains the same. The prison will soon be up and operational, with Claudius' drugs running through it. "Like brother, like brother", Penny comments. Malachai and his Ghoulies will be their soldiers and dealers, with Penny troubleshooting. And hopefully, doing a better job than she did of killing Jughead, Hiram remarks. However, as Penny explains, he wasn't breathing when they left him. Penelope reminds Hiram that he promised her a brothel, which Hiram intends to make good on. As for Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, they are not of concern as far as Hiram is concerned as steps have been taken to tear them apart.

The next day, in Riverdale High's gymnasium, Archie prepares to be inaugurated as Riverdale High's new student body president. However, Sheriff Minetta and two deputies enter through the opposite end of the gym to arrest Archie for the murder of Shadow Lake resident, Cassidy Bullock. Minetta is of course acting under Hiram's command, who also stands in the gym, watching as this unfolds. }}
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Season 3
Three months have passed since that fateful evening in the school gymnasium where Archie was framed by Hiram Lodge and arrested for the murder of Cassidy Bullock. Archie's trial is now in session. Sheriff Minetta sits in court as the trial unfolds. Archie is being prosecuted by District Attorney, Ms. Wright. She attempts to paint Archie as a bad person in her closing argument as Mary, Archie's counsel, attempts to shed light on all the good deeds Archie has done, such as helping solve the murder of Jason Blossom, providing the Southside Serpents with refuge as they hid from the police, and punching through a layer of ice in order to save Cheryl from drowning. With that in mind, Mary takes the opportunity to remind the jury that there were no witnesses, murder weapon or motive to the killing of Cassidy Bullock. After hearing from both the prosecution and the defense, the jury begins to deliberate.

The Judge calls everyone back in to reveal that the jury is still deliberating, but he's also dismissed them for the evening. They're sequestered and he's instructed them not to read anything about this case, nor to discuss it with anyone. They'll reconvene all Tuesday morning after Labor Day. With that being said, the Judge advises Archie to spend the weekend with his family and loved ones.

The following day, Sheriff Minetta catches Veronica attempting to tamper with the jury, who had been sequestered at the Five Seasons. Apparently, he was sent by Hiram, who suspected Veronica might attempt to pull such a stunt.

Labor Day weekend is over and Archie's trial is now in session. Sheriff Minetta attends the trial. However, the jury could not reach a verdict. They're deadlocked. Six-to-six. With that, the jury is dismissed. Archie wonders what will happen next. Mary explains that the judge will declare a mistrial and they'll have to do it all again. In lieu of another trial, the State is prepared to offer a deal for a lesser sentence, Ms. Wright says. Instead of prison, time served plus two years in juvenile detention, if Archie will plead guilty to the crime of manslaughter. Despite his mother's counsel, Archie takes the deal, much to the court's surprise. Archie explains that he can't put all the people he cares about through this again. The court accepts Archie's guilty plea and he is taken directly from the courthouse to the Leopold and Loeb Juvenile Detention Center, where he will serve out his sentence beginning immediately.

Sheriff Minetta catches Betty and Jughead in Ben Button's hospital room. He refuses to allow a couple of teenagers to compromise an active murder investigation. Jughead retorts that if this is an active murder investigation, he might want to start by letting the rest of the town know. Betty and Jughead then overhear Sheriff Minetta's conversation with another deputy, who reveals that an Adventure Scout's parents called. They haven't seen him in two days, and he was a part of Dilton Doiley's troop. Afterward, he contacts Alice Cooper and FP Jones to make them aware of Betty and Jughead's snooping.

Sheriff Minetta arrives at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe for an inspection of Veronica's speakeasy, La Bonne Nuit. Minetta heads downstairs in search of what Veronica believes to be the Jingle Jangle that she had been set up with. Alas, she and Reggie managed to get rid of it. Given the failed set up, Minetta then reveals that he’s collecting donations for Riverdale’s under funded sheriff department, which Veronica deduces as being nothing more than a classic shake down. Sheriff Minetta tells her that he’ll be back to collect the donation after her opening event.

After Veronica found a video of Minetta coaching the Shadow Lake robbers into accusing Archie of murdering their friend Cassidy Bullock, she sends it to Sierra McCoy, who has Minetta arrested.

Physical Appearance
Michael Minetta is a tall man in his thirties with a lean, but athletic build. He has dark brown skin, gray eyes, short black hair, and a clean-shaven look. Due to his duties as sheriff in Riverdale, he is more often than not seen wearing his sheriff uniform.

Gallery

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Season 2 Screencaps

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