3 arrested for allegedly torturing a man for 14 hours

DENVER (KDVR) — Three men are in custody in Jefferson County and are accused of tying up and torturing a man for over 14 hours, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

At around 10 a.m. on Monday, staff at a local hospital informed the sheriff’s office about a man who claimed to have been tied up and tortured. The man was a housemate of the three suspects who were arrested, the agency said.

According to the sheriff’s office, the victim, a 45-year-old man, sustained injuries that stemmed from being tied up, beaten, burned and whipped. The victim also reportedly sustained serious injuries after one of the suspects stepped on his neck and applied enough pressure to cause him to lose consciousness.

The incident happened in the 4700 block of South Oak Court in unincorporated Jefferson County. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said an uninvolved person in the house was able to get the victim out and get him to a local hospital.

The reasoning behind the incident is something the agency’s Karlyn Tilley said they’re still working to figure out.

“We’re still working to try and figure out the motive would have been for this, we don’t know if it was something that happened within the home, but we are still working with the victim and the suspects to figure out what that motive might have been,” Tilley said.

However, this isn’t the first time the sheriff’s office has been at this residence. The sheriff’s office said none of the previous calls for service have been like this.

Michael Jeffs lives nearby and heard the commotion shortly after getting the shelter-in-place notification.

“I heard sirens coming down the road and then about two minutes after that I heard a cop on the megaphone, drop your gun come out with your hands up and then I thought oh maybe this is real,” Jeffs said.

He said the area isn’t a bad neighborhood and was even more shocked to hear about what had happened.

“This has been a quiet neighborhood usually and there has never been a shelter in place since I’ve lived here, so to get that I’m like am I living in a bad neighborhood now?” Jeffs said.

The sheriff’s office said 49-year-old Jason Carlson, who owns the house where the incident allegedly happened, as well as 48-year-old Sherell Allen and 41-year-old Luke Anaya, who are associated with the house, were arrested Monday. At least Carlson is represented by a public defender; the Colorado Public Defender’s Office has a standing practice of not commenting on pending litigation.

According to JCSO, all three suspects are facing the same charges of attempted first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault and second-degree assault. The three were being held on cash-only bonds that ranged from $150,000 to $300,000.

The sheriff’s office said investigators were working to find a fourth suspect, but no further information regarding this was available.

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