Polis grants clemency to man who shot Douglas County deputy

Governor Jared Polis’s clemency decision put one of Douglas County’s most painful law-enforcement cases back at the center of local memory, making Brandin Kreuzer eligible for parole effective June 1 after more than 15 years behind bars for shooting Deputy Todd Tucker in 2008.

The commutation was part of a broader round of 44 clemency actions Polis announced May 15, including 35 pardons and nine commutations. In Kreuzer’s case, the governor said the original sentence was disproportionate given Kreuzer’s age at the time and his rehabilitation record in prison, where he had no Code of Penal Discipline convictions, completed a welding apprenticeship and college courses, and helped create the Redemption Road CrossFit Program.

For Douglas County Sheriff Todd Tucker, the decision reopened a case that never really left. Tucker suffered lasting nerve damage and has undergone multiple surgeries on his right arm since the June 28, 2008 shooting. He has described the injury as something that still affects him, and he said the case was not just about one night, but about a wider wave of violence that left “carnage” across the county.

That wider episode stretched across roughly 30 days in late May and June 2008 and included burglaries, vehicle thefts, break-ins at homes and businesses, and a Castle Rock convenience store incident in which investigators said the suspects were armed and wearing military-style fatigues. Police said Kreuzer and Taylor Moudy led officers on two pursuits before the shootout that ended with Tucker being shot. The pair were each 19 at the time, and earlier reporting identified Kreuzer as the son of Denver police officer Kevin Kreuzer, who was then on Mayor John Hickenlooper’s security detail.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office responded sharply to the commutation, saying Sheriff Darren Weekly strongly criticized Polis’s decision and viewed it as a lack of respect for law enforcement. The office planned further public comments, underscoring how the case still resonates inside the agency that lost an officer to the 2008 attack.

Kreuzer’s co-defendant, Taylor Moudy, was reported to be serving a 45-year sentence. Kreuzer had been sentenced to 50 years for offenses including second-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault and aggravated robbery. His parole terms will be set by the Colorado Parole Board, but the practical change is immediate: after nearly two decades of consequences tied to the Douglas County crime spree, the governor’s action moved Kreuzer from prison toward a possible release path while leaving the scars of the case squarely in place.