It was Christmas Eve and for many, that meant getting last-minute presents ready and spending time with family and friends. For Art Peterson, it was just another morning in physical therapy.
On a cold day like Thursday, Peterson says, the pain is ever present.
“This is the worst it’s ever been for me,” Peterson said. “I’ve been hurt, but nothing like this.”
Peterson, a deputy, has worked for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for 33 years. In July, he joined the newly formed Jefferson County Auto Theft Task Force. A month later, on Aug. 19, he was seriously injured when he tried to stop a stolen truck and ended up beneath it.
Peterson says he and his partner were tracking a stolen truck for several hours when they saw it in Englewood, blocked by a number of cars.
Peterson’s partner approached the car from the driver’s side and Peterson approached from other.
“She saw me coming and turned to the right where I was and hit the gas of the truck and tried to run me over,” Peterson said.
Peterson grabbed on to the passenger side of the truck with his left hand, his gun in his right.
“I was yelling at her, ‘Police, stop! Police, stop!’ and she didn’t, of course, she accelerated,” Peterson said. “That’s what I thought: ‘I can’t let her get any further than this because then I’m going to die for sure if I fall off at high speed.’ Shots were fired. She ended up hitting a brick wall. It’s probably a good thing or I probably would’ve been killed,” he said.
The alleged driver of the stolen truck was 21-year-old Brittany Thurman. She is paralyzed from the stomach down from one of the gunshots and has been charged with four felonies.
Peterson says he had hoped to retire never having to shoot anyone. He says he thinks about Thurman every day. “It weighs on you, even though she did run me over,” he said.
