On the night of February 18, 2023, in northeastern Fort Collins, Colorado, Thompson was stopped by the Larimer County Sheriff's Office for driving with expired license-plate registration. During the stop the deputies discovered Thompson had given a false name. When confronted he exited the vehicle and fled, running across an embankment and into northbound lanes of Interstate 25. Deputy Lorenzo Lujan chased and then deployed a Taser to stop him, whereupon Thompson fell into the highway and within seconds was struck by a vehicle travelling at high speed. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

In the investigation that followed, the county's Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) and the District Attorney concluded that Lujan's actions were legally justified under the situation, though they characterized his judgment as "poor and ultimately tragic." Thompson's family sued the county, arguing the Taser deployment on a controlled highway was unnecessary and dangerous. In August 2024 the county announced a civil settlement of $5 million with Thompson's family.

An internal review by the Larimer County Sheriff's Office concluded that Lujan had not violated department policy, and he therefore faced no disciplinary action, eventually returning to patrol duty.