Jail time instead of prison for drunken driver who fatally hit man on Minnesota road and drove off

A southern Minnesota man was spared prison and instead received jail time for being drunk when he fatally hit a man on a dark road and drove off.

Brian Wayne Nelson, 51, of Harmony was sentenced in Fillmore County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on Aug. 4, 2024, about 2 miles east of Granger on County Road 30, that killed Cale Alan Jackson, 23, of Cresco, Iowa.

The sentence from Judge Jeremy Clinefelter fell in line with the terms of the plea agreement reached in August between the prosecution and the defense. The judge set aside a 4¾-year term in favor of 210 days in jail. Nelson also was ordered to serve 10 years’ probation, pay a $6,000 fine, another $7,500 in restitution and write a letter of apology.

Jackson’s obituary noted that “he always liked having some sort of action whether it was physical or researching something to keep his brain in high gear. Cale loved working on cars or anything technical from a very young age. If he didn’t know how to fix it, his curiosity kept him going until he found the answer. He also liked to ‘invent’ his own devices to make the gadgets he wanted.”

According to the criminal complaint:

Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene about 12:15 a.m. and saw Jackson down on the side of the road and Nelson standing nearby.

Nelson told a sheriff’s sergeant he had three beers before the crash. The sergeant noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from Nelson, who repeatedly said he was sorry. He explained that he saw something down in the road but could not slow down in time.

The sergeant administered a preliminary breath test about an hour after the crash, and it measured Nelson’s blood alcohol content at 0.166%. It was later revised down to 0.126%, based on a blood analysis, still well above the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

Nelson said that night he might have had more than three beers but “wasn’t counting,” the complaint quoted him as saying.

Jackson’s girlfriend shared with a deputy that they were at the same bar that night and argued. She said he left on foot to cool off. Shortly afterward, he was hit by Nelson’s car.

An autopsy on Jackson’s body found fresh bruises indicating injuries to his upper chest and shoulder that he sustained before the crash.

“Given the location of the injuries and minimal damage to [Nelson’s car],” the complaint read, “it is possible that the victim was lying on the road as claimed by Nelson.”