Newly released video shows how a man was killed by a car seconds after being Tasered by a deputy on a major interstate highway in Colorado, according to body-camera footage shared by his family’s attorneys Wednesday.
Man killed by car after being Tasered on highway by deputy, video shows
The 20-minute video shows the 28-year-old being chased by sheriff’s deputies as he flees arrest. One of the deputies yells at Thompson to stop, before targeting him with a Taser on the highway. After dropping to the roadway with a cry, Thompson is hit by an oncoming car.
In the video, an officer can then be seen approaching Thompson’s motionless body and handcuffing him as he lies in the road. Thompson was pronounced dead at a hospital later that evening, Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said, with a subsequent autopsy revealing that he died of “multiple blunt force injuries.”
The release of the footage comes less than a week after the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office announced that no criminal charges would be brought against Larimer County Deputy Lorenzo Lujan, sparking anger from Thompson’s family.
According to the sheriff’s office, Lujan deployed the Taser in an effort to stop the fleeing man from endangering other motorists.
“Unfortunately Mr. Thompson’s choices created a no-win situation,” Feyen said, adding that an internal investigation was also carried out. Feyen said the deputy was “legally justified in his attempt to stop the suspect endangering lives of innocent motorists.”
On Friday, District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin concluded that despite Lujan demonstrating “poor and ultimately tragic judgment,” his “split-second decisions” were not “formed with evil intent.”
After using a Taser on Thompson, Lujan said he used his flashlight to try to get the car, which was “gaining distance very quickly, quicker than expected,” to stop, according to the attorney’s report.
McLaughlin said Lujan’s actions stopped short of “criminal culpability.” He called for “renewed analysis and training” to prevent such incidents in future.
“It’s a travesty of justice that we are seeing,” Qusair Mohamedbhai, one of the attorneys representing the Thompson family, said in a phone interview Thursday, adding that the family decided to share the full body-camera footage after the sheriff’s office only published a shorter version of the video.
Mohamedbhai described the incident as “horrific” and said the footage clearly shows that Thompson was incapacitated on the road as a car barreled toward him. Mohamedbhai described the deputy’s decision to handcuff Thompson, who had just been Tasered for five seconds and then hit by an SUV, as “cold and heartless.”
In a statement shared with The Post, Thompson’s family called for “the criminal prosecution and termination” of the deputy whom they held responsible for Thompson’s death.
Lujan was placed on paid administrative leave after the incident but returned to work “in a non-enforcement capacity” this month, sheriff’s office spokesperson Kate Kimble told The Post in a statement, adding that he will now return to patrol.
In a statement Wednesday, Feyen said the deputy acted to try to stop the suspect to avoid endangering the lives of others. “Every incident provides an opportunity to reflect and grow,” Feyen said of Thompson’s death.
To view this article in it’s entirety, visit www.washingtonpost.com.