Ex-trooper cost Missouri millions after young man’s death. He’s back on state payroll

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A former highway patrol trooper who cost Missouri millions in a civil lawsuit involving the 2014 drowning death of a handcuffed man, is on the state’s payroll again.

Seven years after he was fired from the patrol, Anthony C. Piercy is a probation and parole officer for Missouri’s Department of Corrections. An online employee portal shows he worked at the department for several months last year and all of 2024 so far.

Craig Ellingson, whose son Brandon died in Piercy’s custody during a boating arrest, said he fought for years in hopes that the former trooper would never work in law enforcement in the Show-Me State again. A special prosecutor had charged Piercy with involuntary manslaughter but the former trooper pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor boating violation.

“I’m disappointed in the state of Missouri, whoever hired him,” Ellingson told The Star. “They knew what he did and didn’t care. … He shouldn’t be anywhere near law enforcement.”

In 2018, Piercy lost his Missouri Peace Officer Standards and Training license which all cops must have to be an officer or trooper in the state. That revocation is permanent, said Mike O’Connell, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety.

“There is no provision to regain a revoked or surrendered license,” O’Connell told The Star in an email. “Missouri POST does not license probation and parole officers. You would have to contact the Department of Corrections about its requirements, including the probation and parole hiring process.”

Karen Pojmann, DOC’s communications director, said she could not comment on specific employees and situations but could give general information about the process. Minimum eligibility requirements as of the middle of last year included: a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university preferred, or four or more years of a vocational or higher level experience in a closely related area as well as a valid vehicle operator’s license.

“The department does conduct background checks for all job applicants,” Pojmann said in an email. “A misdemeanor conviction does not disqualify an applicant from eligibility for a position as a probation and parole officer in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

“Hiring decisions for probation and parole officers are made by local administrators following panel interviews, background checks (including criminal history), review of writing samples and review of qualifications.”

Piercy could not be reached for comment.

The deadly stop

Piercy pulled over Brandon Ellingson, a 20-year-old college student on suspicion of boating while intoxicated. During the stop on May 31, 2014, Piercy handcuffed the Iowa man’s hands behind his back. Witnesses told authorities that the trooper then put an already-buckled life vest — the wrong one for a handcuffed person — over Ellingson’s head.

On the way to a field office for more testing, Piercy traveled at speeds up to 46 mph. At one point, after the boat hit a wave, Ellingson was ejected. His improperly secured life vest soon came off. Piercy eventually jumped into the lake to try to save him but couldn’t.

Though a coroner’s inquest ruled Ellingson’s death an accident in September 2014, a special prosecutor charged Piercy with involuntary manslaughter in December 2015 and the patrol put the trooper on leave without pay. Piercy later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

In late 2016, Brandon’s family settled with the State of Missouri for $9 million. The suit had alleged that Piercy’s actions and inactions that day caused Ellingson’s death and that the state and patrol were also responsible because of a lack of training for troopers after the 2011 merger of the Missouri Water Patrol into the Highway Patrol.

After Piercy was sentenced for misdemeanor negligent operation of a vessel in September 2017, Ellingson pushed for the former trooper to lose his Peace Officer Standards and Training license for life. Brandon’s dad said then that he didn’t believe the punishment Piercy received — 10 days in the county jail, two years of supervised probation and 50 hours of community service — were enough for the trooper.

After recently finding out Piercy was hired by the Department of Corrections, Ellingson said that he initially was confused.

“I thought he couldn’t work in law enforcement any more,” Ellingson said. “He needs a parole officer, he doesn’t need to be a parole officer. … Taxpayers are funding someone who killed my son. Who would want him giving advice to parolees?

“To me, he’s not qualified — he doesn’t have a heart.”

Having Piercy working for the state again is just another blow to the family after losing Brandon 10 years ago, Ellingson said.

“They drug me and my family through the mud,” he said. “They were trying to minimize his death by saying he jumped out of the boat. … We caught them in their lies.”

Brandon would be 30 today. When his father learned of Piercy’s job with the state, he said he thought about his son and all he’s missed.

“He told me a couple of weeks before he passed away that he wanted to have a wife and four children,” Ellingson said. “He was going to be in my business and work with me.

“He didn’t get to see any of that.”