Larimer Sheriff’s deputy will not be criminally charged in man’s death on Interstate 25

No criminal charges will be brought against a Larimer County Sheriff’s deputy in connection to the death of a 28-year-old man who was fatally hit by a vehicle on Interstate 25 after the deputy shocked a man with a Taser.

Brent Allen Thompson, of Loveland, died Feb. 18 during a traffic stop in which Deputy Lorenzo Lujan deployed his Taser on Thompson. The man collapsed into the northbound lane of I-25 and was hit by a passing motorist, according to a fatal use of force decision letter on the incident by the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office.

Thompson had been stopped by Lujan on an I-25 off-ramp for expired registration tags on the vehicle he was driving, the document said. During the stop, Thompson was found to be driving the Ford Fusion despite his driver’s license having been revoked.

Lujan was attempting to arrest Thompson when he took off running toward the highway, according to the decision letter. Lujan chased Thompson and deployed the Taser as Thompson jumped a guardrail along the shoulder of the highway. The driver who hit Thompson pulled over and stopped. Thompson was taken to the Medical Center of the Rockies where he was pronounced dead.

In his decision letter, District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin wrote that an investigation and review of Colorado law found “there is no reasonable likelihood of success in proving unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt that Deputy Lorenzo Lujan is criminally culpable for his attempt to effect the arrest of Brent Thompson.