Peace officer may get his license to serve back

A judge has reversed the Missouri Department of Public Safety’s revocation of the peace officer license of a highway patrolman who was driving a boat when a handcuffed Iowa man fell out and drowned.

Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green on Monday sent proceedings against trooper Anthony Piercy back to the public safety department for further action.

Piercy was driving 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson, of Clive, Iowa, for a breath test at the Lake of the Ozarks in 2014 when Ellingson fell off the boat and slipped out of an improperly secured life vest.

Green ruled that public safety Director Drew Juden didn’t provide findings of fact and conclusions of law when revoking Pierce’s license.

Piercy was sentenced to 10 days in county jail for misdemeanor negligent operation of a vessel. He can’t return to the patrol without his peace officer license.