DENVER — The family of a man who was hit and killed by an SUV The man who drove onto a highway after a sheriff’s deputy shocked him with a Taser has reached a $5 million settlement with a Colorado county over his death, attorneys and officials said Friday.
Larimer County Sheriff’s Deputy Lorenzo Lujan used the Taser on Brent Thompson after Thompson ran away as the sheriff’s deputy attempted to arrest him on Feb. 18, 2023. Lujan was not charged, but when 8th District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin announced that decision last year, he said Lujan’s use of the Taser showed “poor judgment.”
The law firm representing Thompson’s family, Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, said the settlement with Larimer County reflects the “enormous mistake” the deputy sheriff made.
“Any reasonable person, let alone a trained law enforcement officer, should have known that Tasering someone on I-25 in the dead of night carried an extreme risk of death or serious injury,” the company said in a statement, adding that Thompson was pulled over because of expired license plates.
Larimer County commissioners said in a statement that Lujan deployed the Taser to prevent Thompson from running onto the highway. They said they agreed to the settlement largely on the advice of their insurers.
Sheriff John Feyen expressed his condolences to the Thompson family, but also said officers have to make split-second decisions.
“We will continue to use this incident as a case study for internal discussions about complex decision-making, dynamic situations, safety priorities and the consequences of action or inaction,” Feyen said in a statement.
Lujan still works for the department on patrol, sheriff’s spokeswoman Kate Kimble said. An investigation found he did not violate sheriff’s office policy and he has not been disciplined, she said.
According to the district attorney’s 2023 letter summarizing the investigation into Thompson’s death, Thompson drove off an exit ramp on Interstate 25 after Lujan turned on the lights of his patrol car. But when Lujan tried to arrest Thompson, who reportedly gave a false name and did not have a driver’s license, he ran down an embankment toward the freeway.
Bodycam footage showed Thompson walking from the shoulder onto the highway as Lujan deployed the Taser, and another officer said he saw Thompson fall to the north side of the road, McLaughlin’s letter said. The second officer then saw approaching headlights and flashed his flashlight to warn that vehicle to stop.
The man driving the Ford Explorer, with his wife and three children inside, said he saw something in the road and saw two people standing on the side of the highway. He said he tried to steer away from the people and hit something in the road.
Lujan, who was working overtime, told detectives he wanted to detain Thompson so he wouldn’t pose a danger to himself or other drivers on the highway.
However, the letter said he looked for approaching vehicles about 20 seconds before using the Taser, but not immediately before using it about 15 seconds later, calling that “a clear error in judgment.”