Good Cop Crosses Thin Blue Line, Helps Family Bring Officer Who Killed Their Son to Justice
Versailles, MO — On Friday, special prosecutor William Camm Seay announced that Trooper Anthony Piercy is being charged in the death of Brandon Ellingson, who drowned in the Lake of the Ozarks with his hands cuffed behind his back.
On May 31, 2014. Trooper Piercy arrested Ellingson under suspicion of OWI and negligently placed the wrong life jacket over the handcuffed 20-year-old’s torso. Piercy then drove his patrol boat away from the scene at a high rate of speed. Ellingson was thrown from the craft when it struck a sizeable wake, the life jacket came off, and he drowned with his hands still in cuffs.
As The Free Thought Project previously reported, following the familiar full-court press to prevent officer accountability, the jury in a Coroner’s Inquest ruled Ellingson’s death to be accidental. It was subsequently revealed that Amanda Grellner, the prosecutor who declined to file charges against Piercy, had received a personal favor from the MHP three years earlier when the department declined to charge her then-18-year-old son with DUI.
After seeing that they were getting zero help from the perpetrator and his subsequent conspirators, the family of Ellingson launched a campaign for justice. During this campaign, they were joined by Missouri Highway Patrol Sergeant, Randy Henry.
Henry witnessed first hand, the incompetence, negligence, and cover-up and took to exposing it.
“We killed Brandon Ellingson,” Henry bluntly told the Lake Expo newspaper, following it with the question of “Why are we investigating ourselves?”
In a conversation with Piercy the day following Ellingson’s death, Henry expressed concerns about how the arresting officer had conducted himself. Piercy himself seemed remorseful, telling Henry,
“I feel like I drowned that kid…. I should have done more for him.”
In any other context, that comment would be treated as a confession to second-degree murder.
Henry then filed a report on the drowning and testified about the inadequate training Piercy and other water patrol officers received.
During an interview with patrol investigators following the drowning, Henry mentioned a state law dealing with the safety of people in custody and how the police are responsible for the lives of those they detain. An investigator interrupted Henry and insisted that the recorder be turned off, to deliberately prevent an official record of his disclosures.
The stiff arm of blue justice was moving in.
Instead of Piercy being held accountable for his negligence, it was Henry who was then run through the gamut of the thin blue line. He was cast out by his department, demoted to corporal, and forced to retire.
But as a true servant to the public, Henry remained resilient and refused to be bullied.
His and the family’s efforts led to the case being reopened and taken over by Seay.
“It was an investigation not concluded at that time,” Seay said. “She [Grellner] didn’t have it. We, my people, completed the investigation. There was additional investigation after Ms. Grellner stepped down.”
When Seay was asked about the concerns of the law enforcement agency investigating themselves, he said, “That’s what I’m for. I don’t have any concerns.”
On Friday, Seay announced the charge of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree against Trooper Anthony Piercy outside the Morgan County Justice Center. The charge is a Class C felony carrying a punishment of up to seven years in prison, up to a year in the county jail, a $5,000 fine or a combination.
The Highway Patrol said in a statement that it had placed Piercy, 44, on leave without pay. He is expected to turn himself in on Friday.
Craig Ellingson, father of Brandon, announced they were pleased with the news but noted how long it took.
“But it should have been a lot earlier,” he said. “I think it has been a cover-up from the beginning. They had everything. They knew what Piercy did to my son.”
For 18 months, this family, along with the now retired Henry, have fought for Piercy to be held accountable in the death of Brandon Ellingson.
“I never imagined something like that happening to Brandon. … I think he felt like he was safe with Piercy, because he’s a cop. But he wasn’t,” said Ellingson.
“There’s been a cover-up from the beginning,” Henry recently told The Star. “They wanted to protect the governor and the merger and protect Piercy from criminal charges because criminal charges would be a black eye for the patrol.”
While this news of Piercy’s charges is great for the family, Craig Ellingson insists that the fight is not yet over.
“I feel some relief, but I still want to get to the people who have covered this up,” he said.
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/good-cop-refused-silenced-fellow-officer-charged-teens-death/
A young man is dead and this is the "harsh" sentence that the man responsible for his death gets.. And it seems like he can still work as a cop. Of course, the cop who questioned this incident and filed a report was demoted and forced to retire. One of the few good apples helps to actually hold one of the (far too) many bad apples accountable but instead it is he who gets punished. Another example of the thin blue line. What a travesty.
Cop Who Threw Handcuffed Man Into Lake and Watched Him Drown, Sentenced to Act in a MusicalVersailles, MO — Nearly two years after Trooper Anthony Piercy was charged in the death of Brandon Ellingson, who drowned in the Lake of the Ozarks with his hands cuffed behind his back, the case was closed. Predictably, the offending officer got off with less than a slap on the wrist—just 10 days in jail and 50 hours of community service.
For handcuffing a college student, negligently casting him into a lake, and watching as he drowned, Trooper Piercy avoided an involuntary manslaughter trial after he pleaded guilty to a simple boating violation in June of 2017.
Last year, Piercy was sentenced for his role in Ellingson’s death and he received just 10 days in jail and 50 hours of community service. The judge referred to this insultingly low sentence of only 10 days as “shock time.”To Ellingson family and those who’ve been following this case, it was a kick in the teeth.
“Ten days is like a vacation,” Craig Ellingson said. “It’s a joke. … He knows he’s guilty and he’s damn lucky to get what he got.”
That kick in the teeth has become far worse now, however, as the family has just found out that this killer cop’s “community service” was spent working in a community theater—of which he was a part of before he killed their son.
As the Star reported at the time, Special Prosecutor William Camm Seay requested Piercy receive 30 days in jail and have his law enforcement certification revoked for life. But that did not happen.“I wished we would have gotten what we asked for,” Seay told The Star after the hearing, and now he’s speaking out again.
According to the Star, records show that Piercy helped create the set of the musical “Moses and the Burning Within” for the Royal Theatre in Versailles, Mo. He did some acting. And the trooper who had dabbled in the town’s community theater before Ellingson’s death also helped tear down the set after the musical’s run.
“I thought it was a joke,” said Craig Ellingson, whose 20-year-old son died nearly four years ago in Piercy’s custody at the Lake of the Ozarks. “He had been in plays before, that was his hobby. That would be like me working at my company for community service. … Basically, it was a picnic for him.”
“What good is that?” Seay said. “I think it’s totally inappropriate. He shouldn’t be given credit for something that he’s a part of anyway. I don’t think that’s what is intended.”
What’s more, after the trial, the patrol noted that Piercy is still a cop and is merely on unpaid leave. What happens now with Piercy’s employment “is a personnel issue,” said Lt. Paul Reinsch, the Star reported.
No one involved in allowing Piercy to achieve his community service for the killing of an innocent young man by acting in a musical has responded to the incident. Calls to the theater and calls to Piercy went unanswered.
On May 31, 2014. Trooper Piercy arrested Ellingson under suspicion of OWI and negligently placed the wrong life jacket over the handcuffed 20-year-old’s torso. Piercy then drove his patrol boat away from the scene at a high rate of speed. Ellingson was thrown from the craft when it struck a sizeable wake, the life jacket came off, and he drowned with his hands still in cuffs while Piercy callously watched on.
During the investigation, it was determined that Piercy did little to nothing as he watched Ellingson drown.
As the Beast reported:
Piercy did not jump in to save him.
When a bachelorette party passed on a nearby boat, the passengers threw Ellingson a life ring “but they didn’t know my son was handcuffed,” Craig said. “Piercy didn’t say he was handcuffed.”
The women told investigators that they screamed at Piercy to extend a pole to Ellingson, which he did “but he knew he was handcuffed,” Craig said.
Piercy did not call a supervisor for help until an hour after Ellingson drowned. Footage from his boat shows Piercy having a chillingly casual conversation with his colleague, referring to Ellingson in profane terms.
“I’m banged up a little bit, but I’m alright. I don’t know if I’m sore from treading water with the bastard,” Piercy told a supervisor of the dead 20-year-old.
As The Free Thought Project previously reported, following the familiar full-court press to prevent officer accountability, the jury in a Coroner’s Inquest ruled Ellingson’s death to be accidental. It was subsequently revealed that Amanda Grellner, the prosecutor who declined to file charges against Piercy, had received a personal favor from the MHP three years earlier when the department declined to charge her then-18-year-old son with DUI.
In September of 2016, a circuit court judge found that the state had “knowingly and purposefully” covered up the crimes of Piercy, violating the state’s Sunshine Law in the act.
After seeing that they were getting zero help from the perpetrator and his subsequent conspirators, the family of Ellingson launched a campaign for justice. During this campaign, they were joined by Missouri Highway Patrol Sergeant, Randy Henry.
Henry witnessed first hand, the incompetence, negligence, and cover-up and took to exposing it.
“We killed Brandon Ellingson,” Henry bluntly told the Lake Expo newspaper, following it with the question of “Why are we investigating ourselves?”
In a conversation with Piercy the day following Ellingson’s death, Henry expressed concerns about how the arresting officer had conducted himself. Piercy himself seemed remorseful, telling Henry,
“I feel like I drowned that kid…. I should have done more for him.”
In any other context, that comment would be treated as a confession to second-degree murder.Henry then filed a report on the drowning and testified about the inadequate training Piercy and other water patrol officers received.
During an interview with patrol investigators following the drowning, Henry mentioned a state law dealing with the safety of people in custody and how the police are responsible for the lives of those they detain. An investigator interrupted Henry and insisted that the recorder be turned off, to deliberately prevent an official record of his disclosures.
The stiff arm of blue justice moved in and now we are seeing the results.
Instead of Piercy being held accountable for his negligence, it was Henry who was then run through the gamut of the thin blue line. He was cast out by his department, demoted to corporal, and forced to retire.
Now, the man responsible for the death of a star college student got off by acting in a play and can remain a cop!http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-community-service-killing-brandon/