Watch: Bodycam video shows moment Brent Thompson tased by Colorado deputy before being fatally struck by car

A video showing Brent Thompson’s death on the highway while evading arrest has been released by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office on wednesday, July 26, 2023.

The body camera footage, shows the events of Februrary 18, 2023, when Thompson was stopped in his vehicle by Sheriff’s Deputy Lorenzo Lujan on the off-ramp for exit 271 after the latter witnessed the former drive in a hotel parking lot on East Mulberry Street in Fort Collins.

Once Thompson was stopped, Lujan asked him for his name. Thompson allegedly lied to Lujan, stating that his name is Jacob Jones. On verifying the details, Lujan realized that Thompson had given him an alias instead and was listed as a habitual traffic offender.

Lujan confronted Brent Thompson thereafter, who ran to escape arrest. The footage shows Lujan warning Thompson to stop in order to avoid being tased, and ultimately shows Thompson being tased as he was attempting to cross the Interstate 25 highway. After being tasted, Thompson was hit and killed by an SUV.

The Larimer County District Attorney’s Office has announced that they will not be charging Deputy Lujan for the death of Brent Thompson and the attorneys for the victim have criticized the lack of prosecution or disciplinary against taken against Deputy Lujan.

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According to the District Attorney’s office, Brent Thompson’s actions created a no-win situation

While confirming that no criminal charges will be filed against Deputy Lujan, District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin stated:

“While the result of this decision was tragic, as a legal matter, once he decided that he could minimize injury by stopping Mr. Thompson from crossing the highway, the use of the Taser was probably the only use of force he had available…The deputy was engaged in a lawful arrest … the law clearly doesn’t require police inaction in these circumstances.”

Similarly, Sheriff John Feyen said that an internal investigation led to the conclusion that no department policies were breached during Brent Thompson’s arrest.

In his statement, Feyen revealed that a firearm and drug paraphernalia was found in Thompson’s car while fentanyl and methamphetamine was detected in his bloodstream at the time of death. He further justified the actions of Deputy Lujan as being in the larger public interest.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Brent Thompson’s family have criticized the lack of consequences for Deputy Lujan. The lawyers said in a statement:

“The Sheriff's (Office) is more concerned with smearing the name of Brent” rather than "holding his deputies accountable… 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”

They have also revealed that the Brent Thompson's family will file a civil suit regarding the incident later this year.