Moffat County detective involved in violent encounters was previously accused of criminal behavior

Within two years of joining the Moffat County Sheriff s Office Kurtis Luster took part in the fatal shooting of a -year-old man in downtown Craig and participated in another circumstance in which sheriff s personnel intentionally rammed an SUV into a man walking down a country road with his hands in the air But people who ve had run-ins with Luster say he shouldn t even have been hired by the northwest Colorado sheriff s office in Police reports show the Routt County Sheriff s Office where Luster worked before getting hired by Moffat County investigated him in for several claims involving his ex-wife girlfriends and the men who would later date them RELATED Police in rural Colorado plowed into a suspect who had his hands up The driver has since been promoted to sheriff Luster along with the Moffat County sheriff did not respond to requests for comment David Roberts who dated Luster s ex-wife explained an investigator that Luster declared around that Roberts should stay away from Luster s ex-wife or he would kill him and cut off his head according to a account Roberts notified The Denver Post that Luster used to hang outside her house in his patrol car and watch when Roberts was there In another summary a former girlfriend of Luster s explained police that he had punched his wife in the face A friend of Luster s Mitch Locke now the Routt County coroner communicated investigators that Luster considered his wife was cheating on him Luster solicited Locke to borrow particular money and the sheriff s deputy allegedly communicated him he required to purchase a device that would plug into a phone jack and record calls Luster advised Locke that he recorded a phone conversation between his wife and her boyfriend one review states Locke reported he even listened to a short section of the recorded phone conversation The Routt County Sheriff s Office referred the research into Luster to the th Judicial District Attorney The assistant DA at the time Matt Karzen declined to prosecute the wiretapping event because the alleged offenses occurred outside the statute of limitations according to a decision letter reviewed by The Post The Post requested the -page description on the sheriff s administrative assessment into Luster s alleged behavior but was reported it would cost An executive summary of the probe presented the agency examined statements against Luster Six were revealed to be sustained seven were deemed unfounded five were not sustained and one was exonerated Unfounded as defined by the sheriff s framework means an probe determines the alleged acts did not occur or are frivolous Complaints considered not sustained are when the assessment determines that there is insufficient evidence to sustain the complaint or fully exonerate the individual in question Four of the claims that investigators sustained meaning they were unveiled to have occurred were redacted in the document reviewed by The Post The only two sustained statements that were not redacted concerned Luster admitting to having a girlfriend ride with him in his work truck without prior supervisor approval Related Articles One injured after DIA passengers evacuated from American Airlines flight Man cited in Aurora crash that killed -year-old on scooter Pedestrian killed in crash in Denver s Hampden neighborhood Two arrested on suspicion of murder in Lakewood triple shooting Colorado jail commander viewed strip-search videos of inmates investigators say The undersheriff Doug Scherar wrote in the summary that Luster was advised that had any of the sustained claims come to light in a timely manner strict disciplinary measures would have resulted The two most of concerning issues that came to light in the scrutiny were part of the redacted portions of the document It s not clear whether Luster was ultimately disciplined Despite the assertions the Moffat County Sheriff s Office hired Luster in Roberts and other people who say they were threatened notified The Post that Luster never should have gotten another job in law enforcement after the Routt County accusations He has no business being a cop in my book Roberts mentioned Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day