Rutgers QB Charged With Assault, Victim May Not Survive

We had a similar story in our state recently about a rec league basketball coach and referee that got into a fight after a game. The coach died and the local media wrote a number of stories about what a great guy he was, tragic loss, etc. The ref was charged with murder.

As more news came out, it turned out the ref was an off-duty deputy sheriff and the coach followed him out of the building after the game. The ref repeatedly identified himself as a cop during the dispute and even went to the on-site security to deal with this guy.

But the coach got past the security somehow and jumped the ref in the parking lot. One perfectly placed self-defense punch later, the coach cracked his head on the ground, lost consciousness and died on the way to the hospital.

 

According to NJ.com, Kolstad and Nelson have a former girlfriend in common (not the same female who was with Nelson Saturday night and allegedly was kissed by the bouncer), which certainly adds an interesting layer to the story (http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2014/05/rutgers_quarterback_philip_nelson_and_victim_dated_the_same_girl_source_says.html).

 

That was mentioned earlier on GopherHole.com, but I didn't know if it was true.

Some posts there are unbelievable, but we've got that going on here as well, don't we?

 

That's a board I shall have to check out.

 

MANKATO, Minn. — The family of a former Minnesota State, Mankato, linebacker who was allegedly assaulted by a former Minnesota quarterback and another man has released more details on his injuries.

In a statement released Saturday via Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, the family of 24-year-old Isaac Kolstad says he required emergency surgery Tuesday to relieve brain swelling. It says doctors removed a significant amount of brain tissue that was no longer viable. And it says his lungs sustained severe injury, leaving him unable to breathe on his own. He remains in critical condition. Kolstad's family is also providing updates on his CaringBridge page.

http://www.startribune.com/local/259665931.html

 

Less than seven months later, on a rainy spring Monday in Mankato, Nelson bowed his head and avoided eye contact with his parents, who sat behind him in a Blue Earth County courtroom in their hometown. His ankles and wrists shackled, he faced assault charges in orange jail garb for allegedly kicking Isaac Kolstad, a defenseless and unconscious young father, in the head when a scuffle erupted into violence at closing time in a downtown area known as the Bar-muda Triangle.

Nelson, 20, was promptly cut from his new college team, Rutgers, as people in Mankato spent a stunned week trying to make sense of a senseless twist of events that left Kolstad, 24, struggling to survive brain injuries and Nelson’s once-story­book career in shambles.

http://www.startribune.com/local/259677211.html

 

For an honest (but brief) moment, I wondered what "assault charges in orange jail garb" were.