During a traffic stop in 2015 Gregory Nelson fired on an Illinois State Police Trooper. N elson was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Gregory K. Nelson, 54, of East St. Louis, was found guilty in August of aggravated discharge of a firearm and attempted first-degree murder of Illinois State Trooper William Owen. During the stop, Owen asked Nelson to get out of the car for field sobriety testing. When Nelson was outside the car, he fired a shot at Owen, according to police. The shot did not hit Owen, who returned 12 shots. None of them hit Nelson. A later search of the car turned up two pipes and a half-pint of vodka. Nelson was on the lam for four days until he was captured by U.S. marshals and Illinois State Police at a St. Ann, Mo., apartment.
