Interview: Man shot by Cedar Rapids police said he had no memory of it

CEDAR RAPIDS — Brandon Lee Nelson told a Cedar Rapids police investigator that he didn’t recall leading officers on a high-speed chase up and down Edgewood Road, eluding officers during chase, pointing a black shotgun at two officers, being shot by those officers after he took aim at them, or discharging the shotgun on July 30, 2022.

Investigator Sarah Lacina said Friday, during the third day of testimony in Nelson’s attempted murder trial, that Nelson had no recollection of what happened between dropping off his friend following a night of drinking and being on the ground in pain.

Nelson, 24, of Cedar Rapids, said this a “handful of times” throughout his interview with Lacina on Aug. 5, while he was in the hospital after being shot three times by officers.

Nelson told Lacina he “assumed” the shotgun belonged to his friend, Keegan Gordon, because the Chrysler Sebring he was driving that night was Gordon’s and Gordon kept a shotgun in the trunk. Lacina asked him why this happened, and again said Nelson said he “assumed” it was because he wanted police to shoot him, but he wasn’t sure.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks asked if Nelson said he made a “conscious” decision to kill himself that night.

Lacina said no. He mentioned being depressed but cited nothing specifically.

Nelson is charged with one count of attempted murder; two counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon; three counts of assault on a peace officer with a dangerous weapon; two counts of interference with official acts while armed with a firearm; and one count each of going armed with intent, persons ineligible to carry dangerous weapons, eluding, reckless driving and driving while barred.

Two officers, Blair Klostermann Cavin and Matt Jenatscheck, testified Thursday they believed Nelson was going to kill them. Cavin said Nelson, who was driving recklessly at a high rate of speed and playing chicken with other vehicles and a police squad car, finally stopped in the 2200 block of Glass Road NE.

Nelson got out of his vehicle with a shotgun and pointed it twice at Cavin and then aimed at Jenatscheck who had pulled up his police cruiser next to Cavin’s squad car.

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Cavin fired four times and Jenatscheck fired eight times, hitting Nelson three times. Nelson discharged the shotgun once. The officers weren’t injured.

No memory

Nelson told Lacina he didn’t even remember that another friend, Cody Gibbons, was with him and Gordon that night for a short time or that they drove around drinking bourbon. He did admit to being a heavy drinker. He told Lacina he used to drink a fifth of cinnamon whiskey a night.

Lacina said Nelson denied knowing police attempted to pull him over. He had six beers and two shots July 30. He also said he didn’t remember driving around with Gordon and Gibbons drinking whiskey after leaving the bars July 29.

Lacina said she tried to interview Nelson on Aug. 1, but he was still in the intensive care unit at University of Hospitals and Clinics and had just had surgery. She said he was mumbling and she didn’t feel he was coherent because of medications.

Lacina said she also helped an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation special agent with his independent investigation regarding the officer-involved shooting. It is typical procedure for an outside source to investigate in those cases to have an unbiased review of a shooting. She mostly observed and offered questions if needed.

The officers involved in a shooting are typically put on administrative leave during an investigation, Lacina said. Once completed, they would either return to duty, be disciplined or terminated, depending on the outcome of the investigation.

Cavin and Jenatscheck returned to duty, Lacina said. The information from the officers was consistent with the body and dash camera videos, she said.

The videos of the chase and the shooting incidents have been shown to the jurors throughout the trial.

Cory Goldensoph, Nelson’s lawyer, on cross-examination, asked if Nelson said he gets depressed when he drinks and likes to listen to sad music.

Lacina said he did and mentioned previous suicide attempts.

Maybanks, on redirect, asked if Nelson knew he was under investigation when she talked with him and Lacina said he did.

Other testimony

In earlier testimony, Officer Brady Christensen, said he responded to the area where Nelson was driving recklessly and leading officers on a chase on Edgewood Road. He came across Nelson’s vehicle near F Avenue at one point and Nelson almost hit the driver’s side door of his squad car. Nelson missed his car only by “inches,” and it made “my heart pound,” he testified.

He was the fourth officer who responded behind Cavin and Jenatscheck on the traffic stop. He heard the gunfire and officers yelling, “Gun, gun,” and then saw Nelson on the ground and the long gun next to him. He helped the other officer render aid to Nelson.

Christensen ripped off Nelson’s shirt to locate wounds. He saw one on the left side of Nelson’s chest, but he didn’t see the abdomen and leg wounds at the time. Nelson kept saying he couldn’t breathe and was going unconscious. He tried to keep Nelson’s head propped up.

Officer Kraig Kruger, a crime scene investigator, testified there were 12 spent cartridge casings found at the scene, which is consistent with four bullets missing from Cavin’s service pistol and eight from Jenatscheck’s.

Kruger said the location of the spent casings from both officers’ guns was also consistent with where they were positioned when they shot at Nelson.

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The shotgun Nelson used had a spent cartridge in the gun, which didn’t eject because it was wrong size of ammunition. Another officer tested the shotgun and it was working properly. The gun’s safety also wasn’t on when it was found at the scene.

The Sebring was processed after obtaining a search warrant. Kruger found an open bottle of bourbon in the front seat area and three full bottles and one or two empty bottles of hard lemonade on the back seat floorboard. There was also one unspent cartridge shell in the driver’s side door panel and an estimated 65 shells in the trunk.

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