By Nassim Benchaabane
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Mo. — A man from East St. Louis was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in prison for attempted murder of a state police officer.
Gregory K. Nelson, 53, was convicted of the attempted murder charge and of aggravated discharge of a firearm after a dashboard camera recorded him shooting at a state trooper during a traffic stop in June 2015.
Trooper William Owen pulled Nelson over for a traffic stop about 11:30 p.m. June 23 near the northbound entrance ramp to Interstate 255 from State Street in East St. Louis. Owen had spotted Nelson driving without his vehicle lights on, St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly said.
Owen smelled alcohol during the stop, Kelly said. He suspected Nelson was intoxicated and asked him to get out of the vehicle for a sobriety test.
Nelson exited the vehicle, pulled out a gun and fired a single shot at Owen, according to Illinois State Police. Owen evaded the shot and returned fire. Neither man was struck or otherwise injured. Nelson jumped over a guardrail and ran off.
Nelson was found four days later at an apartment in St. Ann and was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service and Illinois State Police.
“He did not turn himself in,” Kelly said. “He evaded capture as long as he could.”
Prosecutors presented forensic evidence that included a bullet casing that matched Nelson’s gun. Prosecutors also played the dashboard camera video in slow motion.
“You can see very clearly the weapon aimed at the trooper’s head,” Kelly said.
Nelson had previously been sentenced to nine years in prison for a carjacking, Kelly said. Afterward he was found to be in possession of a firearm in three separate incidents and convicted of charges of unlawful possession of a weapon.
“He had a history of having a gun illegally and he expressed to witnesses that he knew at the time he wasn’t supposed to have a gun,” Kelly said. “He was willing to try to kill the state trooper to avoid capture and the consequences of another conviction.”
Owen, a nine-year veteran of the Illinois State Police, said during the trial that the encounter made him extremely cautious conducting routine traffic stops, Kelly said.
Nelson apologized to Owen and his family in court.
Kelly said Circuit Judge Zina Cruse spoke directly to Nelson in court. She said Owen had just been doing his job.
“How dare you,” she said to Nelson.