LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO: Colorado deputies recently released spine-chilling body camera footage of the moment when a fugitive suspect was run over by a passing SUV seconds after being tased by cops on a busy freeway. The incident took place at around 9 pm on February 18 when Deputy Lorenzo Lujan stopped Brent Allen Thompson, 28, near a hotel off Interstate 25 in Larimer County after noticing that his Ford Fusion had expired tags.
Thompson, however, hopped onto the northbound I-25 where Lujan chased him until his car came to a stop near the Mountain Vista Drive exit, according to NY Post. Thompson, of Loveland, initially identified himself as “Jacob Jones” but when the deputies ran the name through their system, they determined that he gave them a fictitious name. Thompson, who was later found to have drugs in his car, kept insisting that he had not lied until cops told him that he is under arrest. As officers attempted to apprehend him, he fled the scene and sprinted over the I-25.
Is Lorenzo Lujan charged in the incident?
In freshly released bodycam footage, Thompson can be seen running across the grass between the two lanes after hopping over the barrier at the side of the road. “Stop or you’re gonna get Tased! Stop!” Lujan shouts as he tries to chase him down. The officer finally shot his weapon when Thompson jumped the second barricade and made his way back to the road. Lujan saw Thompson laying in the road but it was too late; seconds later Thompson was brutally run over by the oncoming SUV. The video doesn’t show the moment of impact. Lujan then handcuffed the groaning driver and hauled him to the shoulder of the freeway where he and other deputies alternated administering CPR until paramedics arrived.
One of the EMTs says that he saw Thompson's eyes flicker, but cannot feel a pulse. He was rushed to the Medical Center of the Rockies, where he was pronounced dead hours later. After an investigation, the Larimer County District Attorney's Office, last week, announced that no charges will be pressed against Lujan. The district attorney, Gordon McLaughlin, stated that following an investigation and review of Colorado law, it was determined that '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.'
“No one in their right mind would tase someone on the highway”
The devastated family of Thompson is now planning to file a civil suit against Larimer County sheriffs. Their attorneys, Qusair Mohamedbhai and Siddhartha Rathod released the video on Wednesday to show what transpired on the I-25. “No one in their right mind would tase someone on the highway. The public has a right to see this,” Rathod told the Denver Post, adding that the decision to not bring criminal charges against Lujan demonstrates “once again that the police cannot and will not police themselves.” He described the incident as “negligent homicide”, stating that “At the time that Brent ran from law enforcement, he was only suspected of committing the crimes of driving with expired registration and giving a false name to law enforcement.”
