Oakdale officer charged with criminal harassment of man known to suffer from mental illness

Oakdale police officer Charles A. Nelson faces three criminal charges in connection with a September incident involving a man suffering from schizophrenia and has been placed on paid administrative leave, according to city and county records.

Nelson, 41, is charged with one count of harassment causing emotional distress and another of creating reasonable fear of bodily harm. He also is charged with misconduct for allegedly filing a false report. All three are gross misdemeanors punishable by up to a one-year sentence and a $3,000 fine.

The complaint filed Friday said Nelson made harassing phone calls while on duty to a suspect known to be having mental health issues. Just before midnight on Sept. 22, Nelson and his partner, officer Andrew Dickman, were sent to monitor a home on Greystone Avenue in Oakdale to watch for a resident with an active felony warrant.

Command staff specifically told Nelson not to engage with the man because he suffered from schizophrenia and his family had been working with the police to get him help. Nelson was told to notify command if the man left his home so a controlled traffic stop could be made to minimize danger to all, the complaint said.

"The resident's actions were escalating and were troubling and dangerous," the complaint said, adding that the man was also known to possess firearms.

But when Nelson arrived at the home, he downloaded a phone app to mask the number and then called the man, the complaint said. When the man answered, Nelson said nothing. When the man called him back, Nelson told the man he wasn't calling.

After numerous calls and just before 1:30 a.m., the man called Washington County dispatch and reported the series of calls and said he just wanted to sleep. Nelson continued to call and the man eventually became so agitated that he left his house with a shotgun, and Washington County SWAT was called and arrested him, the complaint said.

In interviews with BCA agents, Nelson admitted making the calls, saying he was trying to "build rapport" with the man and didn't identify himself because he "didn't want to scare the resident," the complaint said.

Nelson has been an officer with the city since December 2006. He's due in court Jan. 26.

Nelson's defense attorney Robert Paule refuted the charges.

"The actions taken by Officer Nelson in response to an armed citizen with a felony warrant for his arrest were designed to deescalate the situation and to reach a peaceful resolution for all involved," Paule said. "I find it sadly ironic that his well-intentioned actions resulted in criminal charges. Officer Nelson looks forward to having his day in court and clearing his name of these misguided charges."

Oakdale Police Chief Nick Newton issued a statement saying, "It's disheartening when we work so hard to build trust with our community and when one officer engages in misconduct it undermines the efforts of all the good officers."