Ex-Oakdale officer found guilty of misconduct, not guilty of harassment for calls to surveillance subject

A jury has detected an ex-Oakdale police officer guilty of misconduct stemming from repeated calls he made to a man who had known mental soundness issues and was being surveilled because of a felony arrest warrant Charles Anthony Nelson of Minneapolis was convicted Wednesday in Washington County District Court of misconduct of a populace officer by making false documents a gross misdemeanor for omitting the calls in his analysis of the development Nelson was acquitted of misdemeanor harassing phone calls Nelson s defense attorneys argued that he called the man who had a history of mental medical issues and was armed to get him out of his house Prosecutors contended Nelson acted with intent to harass the man through the more than calls noting how the officer didn t say anything when the man answered and that they caused him to exit the home with a shotgun potentially putting himself and others at peril Nelson never had intent to harass anybody in this circumstance and the jury clearly agreed his attorney Pete Johnson announced Thursday He was trying to help out this person in a mental healthcare emergency based on his own experience with mental medical And he had prior experience with this particular person Nelson was put on paid leave after the Sept case and resigned the following March according to the city He d been an Oakdale officer since Dec Jurors reached the verdict after less than two hours of deliberations following a two-day trial before Judge Gregory Galler Sentencing is scheduled for Feb Disguised phone number According to the criminal complaint Nelson and his partner Andrew Dickman were dispatched to Greystone Avenue to look for the man who had a felony arrest warrant for allegedly making threats The officers were described by command staff not to engage with the individual specifically due to his disclosed mental strength issues and probable determination of schizophrenia the complaint stated His modern actions were escalating and it was known that he possessed firearms and had in recent months made threats of violence Shortly after arriving at the home just after midnight Nelson downloaded a phone app that disguises the phone number of incoming calls He began making calls over the next three hours The man answered several of the calls but Nelson did not say anything When the man called Nelson back at a m the officer denied making the calls The man stated the calls to Washington County dispatch and also called the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and solicited who was calling him At one point he came out with a shotgun before retreating back into the house Washington County SWAT was called and eventually arrested him Nelson worked the remainder of the weekend and despite knowing that his phone calls and actions exacerbated the situation with the man he did not disclose that he made them the complaint noted He omitted the calls in his case overview related to the man s arrest despite the knowledge that the Oakdale Police Department was attempting to determine the veracity of the contends by Victim that he had been getting repeated calls the complaint continued Five days after the occurrence Dickman stated to a sergeant that Nelson was the source of the calls BCA review Oakdale Police Chief Nick Newton contacted the BCA who began an study The surveillance subject s wife reported a BCA agent that he called her that night and explained her about the calls which she declared made him paranoid the complaint explained In an interview with BCA agents Nelson admitted to making the calls and claimed it was to build rapport and incredulously stated he did not identify himself because he did not want to scare the man the complaint stated Related Articles -year sentence for New Richmond man who strangled wife after things got out of hand They had just gone out for a bit daughter of New Brighton couple killed by drunk driver says at his sentencing Trump s attacks on Minnesota s Somali society cast a spotlight on fraud cases Neighborhood group St Paul police use of force against protesters violated plan Keith Ellison announces restitution process for casualties of bankrupt Woodbury dentist Johnson Nelson s attorney when solicited Thursday why the officer did not divulge that he made the calls explained that he held it was known to others within the police department And he thought like the normal procedure is if somebody craved that to be in there and thought that was critical to this somebody would talk to him and say Why don t you add that to your review before we finalize this That happens routinely Johnson declared During Nelson s trial Johnson declared Dickman testified that he concluded everybody knew who made the calls So their understanding was that the supervisors knew and this was no secret there was no disgrace