Brandon Ellingson sits in the back of a State Highway Patrol boat on the Lake of the Ozarks after being arrested in May. Photo courtesy Missourinet
VERSAILLES, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri state trooper has waived his arraignment on an involuntary manslaughter charged linked to the drowning of an Iowa man who fell from a patrol boat while handcuffed at the Lake of the Ozarks.
Forty-four-year-old Anthony Piercy made the court appearance Thursday in Morgan County.
Piercy was charged in December in the May 2014 death of 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson of suburban Des Moines.
Piercy had arrested Ellingson for boating while intoxicated and was taking him to a patrol zone office.
Witnesses have said Piercy placed an already buckled life vest over Ellingson’s head and didn’t property secure it. Ellingson’s life vest came off shortly after he went into the water, and Piercy eventually jumped in but was unable to save Ellingson.
Ellingson’s body was recovered the next day.