family sues patrol over drowning death of son

The parents of an Iowa man who drowned at the Lake of the Ozarks are suing the Highway Patrol Trooper who arrested him, the head of the Highway patrol, the state of Missouri and 11 others. Craig and Sherry Ellingsen from the state of Iowa field the suits Friday in the Western District Court of Missouri in Kansas City. 20-year-old Brandon Ellingsen fell off a boat being piloted by Trooper Anthony Piercy while handcuffed. An earlier coroner’s inquest found no criminal intent in the drowning.

Ellingsen’s parents led a short memorial to their son at a Lake area resort Sunday night. About a dozen Lake area residents joined the Ellingsen’s in remembering their son who would have turned 21 on Sunday.