JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (TCN) — Authorities arrested three people on multiple charges, including attempted murder, after they allegedly abducted their housemate and tortured him.
On the morning of Monday, Sept. 16, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office first learned of the allegations after hospital staff reported a 45-year-old male patient who claimed to have been bound and tortured for 14 hours. Authorities say the man suffered injuries from being tied up, beaten, burned, and whipped.
The sheriff’s office alleges one of the suspects stepped on the victim’s neck, causing him to lose consciousness. According to affidavits reviewed by KMGH-TV, the victim’s housemates reportedly fastened him to a chair with zip ties and electrical tape, and he eventually regained consciousness. The suspects allegedly assaulted him and took turns hitting his knees with a baseball bat.
The victim reportedly told investigators he had been living in a residence on South Oak Court for around two weeks with his sister. In the early hours of Sunday, Sept. 15, he allegedly heard three other men in the house discussing beating him up. The victim reportedly told authorities he called his sister to tell her they needed to leave the home, and then he attempted to crawl out of the window but failed.
The victim went into a bedroom and allegedly tried to place items in front of the door to prevent anyone from getting in. However, according to an affidavit reviewed by KMGH, the suspects broke in. An Airsoft-type gun was reportedly used to shoot the victim with rock salt, and he was assaulted and struck to the floor.
KMGH reports that one of the men hit him on the head with a pry bar, and another doused his face with rubbing alcohol and set the liquid on fire. The suspects allegedly moved the victim upstairs and continued to hurt him before going back downstairs and binding him to the chair again. Court documents obtained by KMGH allege that at one point, the victim’s roommate and a woman came in and told the suspects to stop harming him.
Another individual reportedly drove the victim to the hospital and left him at the emergency entrance. According to KMGH, medical staff observed singed eyebrows on the victim’s face, as well as burn marks, swollen and discolored knees, and broken thyroid cartilage in the neck. He reportedly had marking on his wrists and ankles consistent with being tied up.
According to the sheriff’s office, on Sept. 16, a SWAT team “executed high-risk arrest warrants” on the three suspects at the residence. Officials arrested the homeowner, 49-year-old Jason Carlson, as well as 48-year-old Sherell Allen and 41-year-old Luke Anaya on charges of attempted first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping, and first- and second-degree assault. They remain held in the Jefferson County Jail. The sheriff’s office said investigators are looking for a fourth suspect.