Motorcyclist involved in trooper death will stay locked up

A Missouri state trooper has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the drowning death of a handcuffed man in his custody, KMBC reports.

The involuntary manslaughter charge, a felony, could land him behind bars for as long as eight years and cost him $5,000 in fines.

Piercy is expected to turn himself in later Friday.

Piercy had arrested Ellingson for boating while intoxicated and was taking him to a patrol zone office. Witnesses said Piercy improperly put a life vest on the handcuffed Ellingson, who fell from the boat while Piercy was taking him to shore.

In September of 2014, the death was ruled accidental by a jury, but the case was revisited after the Ellingson family spent 18 months pleading for justice.

Piercy, 44, claimed to authorities that he was not properly trained to patrol the lake and noted that he eventually jumped in to try and save the man after he plunged from the boat. They said the trooper did nothing as Ellingson, hands locked behind his back, dropped into the lake. It said that Ellingson’s blood-alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit when he was driving his family’s 28-foot boat, calling the “Sotally Tober”.

Henry also has contended that patrol officials tried to paper over serious problems revealed by Ellingson’s death, in part to shield Gov. Jay Nixon from criticism for pushing the 2011 merger of the state Water Patrol into the Highway Patrol.

Piercy’s actions on the day Ellingson died were reckless, Seay said. “I think it has been a cover-up from the beginning”.

Comerzan is charged with second-degree murder, resisting arrest and other counts for an August chase that resulted in the August death of trooper James Bava.