The death of a central Iowa man while in police custody in Missouri earlier this year has been ruled accidental. Twenty-year-old Brandon Ellingson of Clive was arrested in May at the Lake of the Ozarks on a charge of boating while intoxicated.
Ellingson was placed in a Missouri State trooper’s boat, handcuffed and then had a life jacket put on him, though it wasn’t properly fastened. The boat hit a wave and Ellingson fell out.
The life jacket popped off and despite efforts to rescue him, he drown. The Missouri jury determined Trooper Anthony Piercy did all he could to save Ellingson and Piercy will face no criminal charges in the case.