A fourth Jefferson County man has been arrested after allegedly helping to kidnap and torture his housemate for 14 hours, according to sheriff’s officials.
Jimmy Ray Smith, 39, faces 17 charges for his role in the Sept. 15 incident, including attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment and felony menacing, according to court records.
Smith — alongside Jason Edward Carlson, 49; Sherell Cortez Allen, 48; and Luke Leonard Anaya, 41 — is accused of tying up a fellow housemate and torturing him for 14 hours by beating him with a pry bar and baseball bat and lighting him on fire.
The other three suspects were arrested on Sept. 18 and sheriff’s deputies spent weeks tracking down Smith, according to a from the department.
Investigators partnered with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Team and the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Fugitive Task Force, who tracked Smith down to a pizza shop in Denver on Sept. 30, sheriff’s officials said.
Smith is in custody on a $500,000 cash bail and is next set to appear in court on Thursday, according to court records.
Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies originally responded to St. Anthony Hospital on Sept. 16 after hospital staff called 911 about a patient who said he had been tied up and tortured.
The patient, a 45-year-old man, told police he lived in the 4700 block of South Oak Court and had injuries from being tied up, beaten, burned and whipped, according to sheriff’s officials. He also had a serious injury from a man stepping on his neck with enough pressure that he lost consciousness.
The 45-year-old was able to escape when an “uninvolved person who was in the house” was able to help him get out and get to the hospital, sheriff’s officials said.
Carlson and Allen are set to appear in court on Oct. 15 for a preliminary hearing, and Anaya is set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 16.
