Six months after trooper Anthony Piercy pled guilty for his role in the drowning death of an Iowa college student, he's been let go from the Missouri Highway Patrol.The state police force's termination of Piercy, first reported by the Kansas City Star, comes three and a half years after Brandon Ellingson was killed in the Lake of the Ozarks while in Piercy's custody.
“The board concluded that Trooper Piercy violated the policies of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and that his actions warranted discipline,” Col. Sandra K. Karsten wrote in an email to Ellingson's father, according to the Star. “The final decision regarding discipline of Patrol employees rests with me. Therefore, I am informing you Trooper Piercy’s employment with the Missouri State Highway Patrol was terminated effective December 15, 2017.”
Ellingson, 20, was operating his family's boat when Piercy pulled him over and placed him in handcuffs, planning to take him to shore on suspicion of boating while intoxicated.
But as the RFT reported in a 2015 cover story, Piercy had little experience patrolling the water.…