Colorado district attorney releases opinion in death investigation of man struck on I-25

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. — The district attorney for the Eighth Judicial District released its opinion Friday on the investigation into the use of force by a Larimer County Sheriff’s deputy on a man who died after fleeing a traffic stop in February.

Deputies stopped the suspect, identified as Brent Thompson, for an expired car registration as he was driving northbound on Interstate 25 near the Mountain Vista exit. The sheriff’s office said Thompson gave them a fake name. And when deputies asked the man to step out of the car, he fled from them toward the interstate.

An officer used a Taser on Thompson. Then, he was hit by a passing car. Thompson was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said.

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District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin of the Eighth Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in his opinion Friday that “applying the law to the facts of this incident… I conclude 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.”

The district attorney’s review of the incident concluded the use of force in this case is not considered “deadly force” per Colorado law because Deputy Lujan did not intend to cause Thompson’s death.

District Attorney McLaughlin went on to say, “Additionally, I conclude that the driver of the vehicle that hit Mr. Thompson is not criminally responsible for the crash that resulted in his death.”

After realizing the driver of the SUV hit Thompson, Deputy Lujan pulled over on the side of the road and backed up to return to the site of the crash.

The district attorney’s conclusions from the investigation into this incident addressed potential community concerns about if the pursuit of Thompson was necessary. Under the circumstances, the district attorney said that is not the legal question he had to answer.

Under Colorado law, an officer is expected to arrest anyone who is suspected of engaging in criminal behavior.

And under the definition for “deadly force” per Colorado law, force must meet all three requirements of it being “the intended, natural, and probable consequence of which is to produce death, and which does, in fact, produce death.”

There was no evidence any of those conditions were met in Deputy Lujan’s case, the district attorney said.

District Attorney McLaughlin will host a virtual town hall to explain the process and results of this investigation. The town hall will occur on July 31. Details and an event link will be posted on the DA website prior to the event.