Southeast Minnesota Man Sentenced for Deadly DWI ATV Crash
Preston, MN (KROC-AM News) -- A Fillmore County man has been ordered to serve more than six months in jail for driving drunk and causing the death of a northern Iowa man last year.
According to court records, 51-year-old Brian Wayne Nelson of Harmony was accused of being under the influence of alcohol while driving a Can-Am all-terrain vehicle when he struck and killed 23-year-old Cale Jackson of Cresco, Iowa, in the early morning hours of August 4, 2024. The fatal collision occurred near a bar in the town of Granger, along the Minnesota-Iowa border.
The criminal complaint against Nelson says he told an investigator he had consumed several beers before driving the ATV to the bar to meet some friends. He stated that he was “just driving down the road in his Can-Am when he saw something lying down, but he couldn’t slow down quickly enough.”
Driver Told Police He Thought He Hit Roadkill
The charges against him state that Nelson told investigators he initially thought he might have run over roadkill and continued on to the bar, where he confided to the bartender that he “had just run someone over and felt in his heart he needed to go back.” The bartender called 911, while Nelson and some friends returned to the scene, where they found the victim on the ground.
Court documents say the victim had been at the same bar earlier but walked away after getting into an argument with a woman.
The criminal complaint says a preliminary breath test measured Nelson’s blood-alcohol concentration at nearly 0.16 about 90 minutes after the deadly incident. Four hours later, a blood sample was obtained, and tests measured Nelson’s BAC at more than 0.12.
He was charged with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide, two counts of criminal vehicular operation, two misdemeanor counts of DWI, and misdemeanor careless driving. In August, Nelson entered into a plea agreement and admitted to a single count of criminal vehicular homicide.
Sentence Includes Jail Time Every August for Nearly a Decade
Nelson was sentenced today in Fillmore County Court to 180 days in jail. He will also be required to serve three days in jail each August through 2034, followed by 10 years of probation. The sentencing order indicates Nelson was also given a stayed 57-month prison term.
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