Harassment charges: Oakdale police officer called person having mental health crisis over 20 times
MINNEAPOLIS -- An Oakdale police officer is facing charges of harassment and misconduct after he allegedly made repeated calls to a person with known mental health issues while on duty.
Charles Anthony Nelson, 41, is charged with two counts of harassment and one count of misconduct.
On Sept. 22, Nelson and his assigned partner were dispatched to watch for a resident--the victim--who had an active felony arrest warrant. Nelson was instructed not to engage the resident and report if they left the home so the department could conduct a controlled traffic stop.
Court documents say Nelson was informed the victim may be suffering from schizophrenia. Police say the family of the victim had been working with the department to get help. Additionally, police were aware the victim possessed firearms and recently made threats of violence.
Nelson allegedly downloaded an app on his phone that masked his real number upon arrival at the victim's home and began calling the victim.
Nelson would not say anything when the victim answered the phone and allegedly told the victim he was not the one calling when the victim would call the number back.
Calls began to escalate so much that the victim exited his residence with a shotgun.
Call logs reveal over 30 calls going back and forth between Nelson and the victim from 12:30-3 a.m. At least twenty of those calls came from Nelson to the victim.
Washington County SWAT was eventually called due to the victim possessing a shotgun outside his residence. The victim was taken into custody.
Nelson failed to report he was the source of the calls while the department worked to determine the accuracy of the victim's claims regarding the repeated phone calls.
Nelson's partner eventually reported that Nelson was the source of the phone calls.
In an interview with BCA agents, Nelson admitted to making the calls and said it was to "build rapport."