Fillmore County Man Pleads Guilty in Fatal Drunk ATV Crash

Preston, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Fillmore County man entered a guilty plea today to a criminal vehicular homicide charge for driving drunk and causing the death of a northern Iowa man about a year ago.

According to the criminal complaint, 51-year-old Brian Wayne Nelson of Harmony was accused of being intoxicated while operating a Can-Am all-terrain vehicle when he struck and killed 23-year-old Cale Jackson of Cresco in the early morning hours of August 4, 2024. The deadly incident occurred near a bar in the town of Granger, near the Minnesota-Iowa border.

The court document says Nelson told an investigator he had consumed several beers before getting behind the wheel of the ATV to meet some friends at the bar. 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.”

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The complaint says Nelson told the investigator he initially thought he might have run over roadkill and continued driving 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 charges indicate the bartender called 911, while Nelson and some friends returned to the scene and found the victim on the ground.

According to the court document, the victim had been at the same bar but walked away after getting into an argument with a woman.

The charges say a preliminary breath test measured Nelson’s blood-alcohol concentration at nearly 0.16 about 90 minutes after the fatal incident. About four hours later, a blood sample was obtained from Nelson, which tested at more than 0.12.

He was originally charged with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide, two counts of criminal vehicular operation, two misdemeanor counts of DWI, and misdemeanor careless driving. During a court appearance this morning in Fillmore County, Nelson pleaded guilty to a single count of criminal vehicular homicide involving alcohol impairment.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in October.

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