Newly released video shows full encounter between Nelson and Kolstad

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This is going to sound harsh because of his injuries and I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he recovers because no one deserves to go through that, but in the interview the first thing he says is "Why did this happen to me?"

Again, I feel bad for the guy and what he is going through, but he initiated the fight. Nelson is a scumbag for what he did, but still.
 

after watching that video, i feel so sad for his wife and kids. they didn't ask for the decisions that were made by three individuals that night to be made. so sad.
 




I've watched the footage about 50 times and it looks to me like the Kolstad punch didn't do much damage to Nelson. It looks to me like he accompanied the relatively soft punch with a shove which was the real force that got Nelson and friend to stumble to the ground. The Trevor Shelley punch on the other hand was obviously thrown with enough force and in the most damaging possible area on the head to be a knockout blow that made Kolstad unconscious before he ever hit the ground. The Nelson kick was relatively soft by comparison to the Shelley punch and probably would not have caused great injury by itself.
 

This is an indictment of media. They took what they wanted and ran with it. The story was what a loose cannon Nelson was. They failed to do the research and never admitted they were negligent. I don't expect much from the media, and I offer this as proof.
 

AO54 said:
I've watched the footage about 50 times and it looks to me like the Kolstad punch didn't do much damage to Nelson. It looks to me like he accompanied the relatively soft punch with a shove which was the real force that got Nelson and friend to stumble to the ground. The Trevor Shelley punch on the other hand was obviously thrown with enough force and in the most damaging possible area on the head to be a knockout blow that made Kolstad unconscious before he ever hit the ground. The Nelson kick was relatively soft by comparison to the Shelley punch and probably would not have caused great injury by itself.
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Assuming your assessment of events is accurate and I think it is, it really doesn't matter what condition Kolstad was in when Nelson kicked him. Either way, Nelson is probably screwed.

First, it was clearly an assault on Nelson's part since Kolstad presented no threat when it occurred. Yes, I understand Kolstad assaulted Nelson first but legally that doesn't matter (see previous posts).

Although we'll probably never know, let's say Shelley's punch and/or Kolstad's head hitting the ground as a result of that punch did the serious damage. The problem for Nelson is that no matter how "soft" his kick was to Kolstad, he just hit a seriously injured person.

Time for a poor analogy. Someone falls out of a tree, face-plants into the sidewalk, and is unconscious. You run over and try to assist them and the first thing you do is roll them over. The EMTs show up and bring the guy to the hospital . Lo and behold it turns out the guy has a spinal injury, is paralyzed, and is now suing your well intentioned sorry a$$.

Yeah, two very different scenarios but my point is if Kolstad was seriously hurt before Nelson's kick, Nelson just compounded things in a very bad way for both himself and
Kolstad. The second strike to a seriously injured person is probably worse for Nelson than if Kolstad had been "fine" before the kick. Of course had Kolstad been fine before this kick, than Nelson's kick would have done the serious damage and that's not good. Either way, Nelson is probably screwed.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
 

I hate this whole situation all the way around and there are no winners, only losers; no real bad guys or scumbags just poor decisions being made by a bunch of drunk twenty somthings. The only real absolute that I see at this point is that Kolstad has to be charged, too. I just can't see a scenerio where the guy who escalates the matter to the point where punches are being thrown from behind with clearly in my mind the intent to injure Nelson doesn't get charged at the end of the day just because he's the one who ends up on the wrong side of the matter and has injuries. That makes zero sense to me.
 



Indi1006 said:
I hate this whole situation all the way around and there are no winners, only losers; no real bad guys or scumbags just poor decisions being made by a bunch of drunk twenty somthings. The only real absolute that I see at this point is that Kolstad has to be charged, too. I just can't see a scenerio where the guy who escalates the matter to the point where punches are being thrown from behind with clearly in my mind the intent to injure Nelson doesn't get charged at the end of the day just because he's the one who ends up on the wrong side of the matter and has injuries. That makes zero sense to me.
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Like I said, I really don't think Kolstad's punch/shove was intended to seriously injure. Even if you think Kolstad had the "intent" to seriously injure Nelson he didn't. There are no serious injuries until Shelley hits Kolstad and Kolstad hits the ground. Kolstad was not winding up for a second possibly more dangerous attack at the time of the Shelley punch.
 

AO54 said:
Like I said, I really don't think Kolstad's punch/shove was intended to seriously injure. Even if you think Kolstad had the "intent" to seriously injure Nelson he didn't. There are no serious injuries until Shelley hits Kolstad and Kolstad hits the ground. Kolstad was not winding up for a second possibly more dangerous attack at the time of the Shelley punch.
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I guess we'll have to disagree on that. Kolstad attached Nelson from behind and sucker punched him with some vigor. The only real difference between what Kolstad did and what Shelley did is that Shelly connected better than Kolstand. The really sad thing is that I'm sure Nelson wakes up every day and just can't believe that Shelley did what he did because Nelson didn't need the stupid, idiot to jump in here. Had he not, Kolstad and Nelson probably would have pissed and moaned at each other for another couple of minutes while the other kids there worked to break it all up and then everyone would have went home and called it a night. Just crazy, stupid cirucmstances all the away around.
 

Indi1006 said:
I guess we'll have to disagree on that. Kolstad attached Nelson from behind and sucker punched him with some vigor. The only real difference between what Kolstad did and what Shelley did is that Shelly connected better than Kolstand.
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"The only real difference" ???? One guy popped right back up without so much as a noticeable scratch and the other guy nearly died.
 

AO54 said:
"The only real difference" ???? One guy popped right back up without so much as a noticeable scratch and the other guy nearly died.
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The outcomes are different, the actions by Kolstad and Shelley are nearly identical. Do you think Kolstad should be charged?
 



Indi1006 said:
The outcomes are different, the actions by Kolstad and Shelley are nearly identical. Do you think Kolstad should be charged?
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Mods, please consider taking this and every other thread about the fight off here and put it on the Off Topic Board where it belongs. Any connection to "Gopher Football" is irrelevant at best.
 

Indi1006 said:
The outcomes are different, the actions by Kolstad and Shelley are nearly identical. Do you think Kolstad should be charged?
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saying they're similar actions is like saying one guy drove a car recklessly and "almost hurt someone" is the same as the another guy driving over somebody's body and nearly killing him.
 

AO54 said:
"The only real difference" ???? One guy popped right back up without so much as a noticeable scratch and the other guy nearly died.
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The only crucial difference in the cases of the Kolstad assault on Shelley and the punch to Kolstad is that Kolstad had the misfortune of most likely landing in a bad way causing his head to hit the concrete hard. In many of these felonies that result due to bar/ drinking related fights, the key factor is that someone hits the pavement and severely damages their brain.

This could happen at any time during in scuffle, which is why fighting is a very dangerous thing, legally. In the worse incident I have ever seen in six years at TCF,I saw two idiots taking swings at each other in the north concourse of TCF after the Ohio State game and a similar injury easily could have happened. In this case the "security" people in yellow jackets had zero interest in intervening in a meaningful way. Both of these people should have been arrested, and one took a few punches at the other guy in front of 10 witnesses that were as bad as any punch thrown in Mankato. Thankfully no one fell backwards into the floor.

One other difference is that Kolstad is the one who physically initiated the incident. When will he be charged? It really should not matter what happened earlier, or later when Nelson walker over and delivered the kick,, #22 committed a equal crime when he sucker punched Nelson.

Of course we all know how incompetent the Blue Earth County Attorney and his office is, after the "child porn" case.
 

Off topic? Not connection to Gopher football? What world do some people live in?
 

Iceland12 said:
Mods, please consider taking this and every other thread about the fight off here and put it on the Off Topic Board where it belongs. Any connection to "Gopher Football" is irrelevant at best.
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Does your computer have a virus that requires you to click and read this thread? The stories on top of Gopherhole right now is that a thread that the fake Bo Pilini account will live on and Bo Pilini rips Nebraska admins. Neither have absolutely nothing to do with Gopher football, Nelson at least played for the Gophers.

I consider myself an average gopherhole poster. I actually come here for Gopher football news, Minnesota football news, and some minor college football news.
 

Bottom line is this story is one bad decision followed by another bad decision followed by another bad decision.

Kolstad (in my humble opinion) should not have been at the bar, at that hour, in that condition.

Nelson (in my humble opinion) should not have been at that bar period.
 

Studwell55 said:
Bottom line is this story is one bad decision followed by another bad decision followed by another bad decision.

Kolstad (in my humble opinion) should not have been at the bar, at that hour, in that condition.

Nelson (in my humble opinion) should not have been at that bar period.
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+1
 

Indi1006 said:
I hate this whole situation all the way around and there are no winners, only losers; no real bad guys or scumbags just poor decisions being made by a bunch of drunk twenty somthings. The only real absolute that I see at this point is that Kolstad has to be charged, too. I just can't see a scenerio where the guy who escalates the matter to the point where punches are being thrown from behind with clearly in my mind the intent to injure Nelson doesn't get charged at the end of the day just because he's the one who ends up on the wrong side of the matter and has injuries. That makes zero sense to me.
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No, he doesn't. That is the District Attorney's call. Kolstad's condition will be a factor. Whether you like it or not, these things don't happen in a public opinion vacuum.
 

Mulligan said:
No, he doesn't. That is the District Attorney's call. Kolstad's condition will be a factor. Whether you like it or not, these things don't happen in a public opinion vacuum.
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He still committed a crime why wouldn't he be charged at all? If you go by that logic he hit Nelson and shouldn't get charged then either Shelley or Nelson shouldn't get charged because one of them didn't cause serious brain damage to Kolstad. Regardless its very messy and if Kolstad gets charged it should be a lesser charge along with Nelson and Shelley getting a little heavier punishment (possibly only one if you can prove who did the damage but regardless both should be charged with something). If Kolstad isn't then why should Nelson and Shelley both should? I think all should be charged, but the severity should be a little worse for the two because of the injuries.
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
Assuming your assessment of events is accurate and I think it is, it really doesn't matter what condition Kolstad was in when Nelson kicked him. Either way, Nelson is probably screwed.

First, it was clearly an assault on Nelson's part since Kolstad presented no threat when it occurred. Yes, I understand Kolstad assaulted Nelson first but legally that doesn't matter (see previous posts).

Although we'll probably never know, let's say Shelley's punch and/or Kolstad's head hitting the ground as a result of that punch did the serious damage. The problem for Nelson is that no matter how "soft" his kick was to Kolstad, he just hit a seriously injured person.

Time for a poor analogy. Someone falls out of a tree, face-plants into the sidewalk, and is unconscious. You run over and try to assist them and the first thing you do is roll them over. The EMTs show up and bring the guy to the hospital . Lo and behold it turns out the guy has a spinal injury, is paralyzed, and is now suing your well intentioned sorry a$$.

Yeah, two very different scenarios but my point is if Kolstad was seriously hurt before Nelson's kick, Nelson just compounded things in a very bad way for both himself and
Kolstad. The second strike to a seriously injured person is probably worse for Nelson than if Kolstad had been "fine" before the kick. Of course had Kolstad been fine before this kick, than Nelson's kick would have done the serious damage and that's not good. Either way, Nelson is probably screwed.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
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604A.01 GOOD SAMARITAN LAW would protect your "well intentioned sorry a$$"
 


oak_street1981 said:
Off topic? Not connection to Gopher football? What world do some people live in?
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Okay. Then was the lack of arm strength displayed by Nelson as a Gopher QB the reason that, when Phil hit/pushed Kolstad and started all of this, he didn't knock out or daze Koltsad the way Kolstad and Shelley did when they engaged in their cheapshot attacks?
 

Iceland12 said:
"Kaus told an investigator it was an incident with a bouncer at Blue Bricks that eventually led to the argument between Nelson and Kolstad that ended with punches being thrown. Nelson was able to just walk into the bar without being carded and Veroeven had a fake identification card, Kaus said.

"We were going to Blue Bricks and, uh, me and Phil went in and then she got stopped by the, the bouncer that was working there and the guy was trying to hit on her," Kaus said, according to a transcript of the interview. "And Phil, obviously, took it like that she was letting him hit on her. And then he got upset that she was like because he like kissed her and stuff. I didn't know bouncers could do that stuff, but whatever."

At that point Nelson started ignoring Veroeven, which made her upset, Kaus said. According to other witnesses Nelson and Veroeven had gone to Blue Bricks twice that night and it's not clear in Kaus' interview if the incident with the bouncer happened the first time or the second time. It was after the second time they were at the bar that Kaus ran into Thompson as he and Kolstad were leaving Buffalo Wild Wings.

Thompson told investigators he and Kolstad had been drinking at South Street when they decided to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for some food. They left, however, because the line was too long. They decided to walk to Kolstad's house, but Thompson stopped to talk to Kaus.

Kaus told investigators Kolstad was being nice to Nelson, wishing him luck on his decision to leave the University of Minnesota to play quarterback for Rutgers. The argument started because Nelson mistook Kolstad for the bouncer.

"(They) came up to Phil and they're like, 'Hey, dude, best of luck at Rutgers. I hope everything works out,'" Kaus said. "But the kicker is that the bouncer that kissed her hand is half white, half black. Kolstad is half white, half black. Phil thought Kolstad was the bouncer."

When Nelson accused Kolstad of trying to hit on his girlfriend, Kolstad told Nelson he was married and wouldn't do that, Kaus said. At that point Nelson pushed Kolstad hard, which made Kolstad angry. That's when Kaus grabbed Kolstad and Thompson grabbed Nelson and took the men in different directions. Kaus and Thompson both said they tried to keep the other two men from taking the argument any further.


"I'm like Isaac you don't want to do this," Kaus said. "You have a kid, your wife's three weeks away from having another kid. You don't need to be doing this kind of stuff. I go Phil is, he's intoxicated. I know you hate that he just shoved you like that, but it's not worth it."

Kolstad didn't listen. He got away from Kaus and ran toward Nelson and Thompson.

"Sucker punched him in the back of the head and then Phil like stumbled around like, I mean I'm sure because he got hit in the back of the head. Then all of a sudden, right after Kolstad punched Phil in the back of the head, some dude in a red shirt outta nowhere came and just clocked him. Clocked Kolstad.

"I'm sure he was knocked out, that's what knocked him out. Then Phil kicked Kolstad in the head."

Wrong suspect

Nelson was arrested as he walked away from the downtown mall area at about 2:20 a.m. Shelley allegedly ran from the scene and wasn't arrested until the next day after he was identified by other witnesses. Nelson and Shelley didn't know each other, but, initially, police didn't believe that.

Their first suspect for the person who punched Kolstad was Jack Mages, 21, of Mankato. He had been with Nelson, Kaus, Derek Haefner and Andrew Frentz, all former Mankato West High School athletes, at South Street Station. It appears from interviews with Nelson and witnesses that the reasons he was a suspect was he was wearing a red shirt, had a similar build as Shelley and had been with Nelson. Witnesses had told police that the man who punched Kolstad was wearing a red shirt.

When officers arrived at Mages' door later in the day on May 11, he told them he knew nothing about what had happened. He said he and the rest of the group had been with Nelson and Veroeven while they were waiting in line at Red Rocks. Nelson and Veroeven were already being "snippy" with each other because of the incident with the bouncer at Blue Bricks.
When the group left because the wait at Red Rocks was too long, Nelson broke away from the group and went into Blue Bricks. Veroeven followed him and the rest of the group walked to South Street again, which was where the group had been before walking to Red Rocks.

Mages also said he couldn't believe Nelson, one of his best friends, had gotten into a fight.

"I've never seen Phil in a fight, but I could see, like where, if someone did something to Mal," Mages told investigators. "He would just leave. He would never look for a fight. Never. And he doesn't like attention, so . . ."

Mages was able to prove he wasn't the person who punched Kolstad. He showed the officers his red shirt, which wasn't ripped. It was clear in a surveillance video showing the punches that the red shirt on the suspect had been ripped. He was also able to give the officers the name of the woman who gave him and some of the others in the group a ride home before the bars had closed. The incident happened after bar closing.

Jarrid Wassinger, a Mankato man and friend of Kolstad who witnessed the incident, had also told police he had grabbed the man in the red shirt to attempt to stop him from hitting Kolstad. Wassinger said the suspect's shirt ripped when he grabbed it.

After the incident, an officer took Thompson to Kolstad's house because he had been planning to stay there that night. Thompson took care of the Kolstad's young daughter and Kolstad's wife, Molly, was taken to the hospital to see her husband. She eventually learned his doctor wasn't sure he would survive.

Hard reality

When Nelson and Veroeven were interviewed by investigators, they both said the person who had argued with Nelson and punched him had made comments about Veroeven. Both also said they had never met Kolstad.

"Yea, I mean he was like, you know, I was with your girlfriend," Nelson told an investigator during an interview at the jail. "Like what, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? Like, I mean that type of stuff."

Nelson admitted to pushing Kolstad before walking away. He said he was punched in the back of the head seconds later.

"I just remember popping back up and the seeing like I was just I was really out of it and I remember people kinda like holding me up and then somebody in a red shirt hitting the guy to the ground. All of the sudden, yea, I was walking across the street like over by where the cops got me. So I mean it was like a big haze after that and I just remember basically loosing my vision for awhile."

Nelson said he didn't remember kicking Kolstad.

Veroeven was interviewed later in the day on May 11. She hadn't talked to Nelson since his arrest. She said Nelson pushed/hit Kolstad, who she had never met before, first but Kolstad started the fight.

"I was standing right next to Philip and the guy goes, 'I'm getting with your girlfriend tonight and that's what put him over the edge," she said.

When Nelson was asked to use a scale of one to 10 to estimate how intoxicated he was at the time, Nelson said, "Like six maybe." He said he had the most to drink at South Street Station and thought he only had a shot at Blue Bricks. Nelson had a blood-alcohol concentration of .12 when he was tested after his arrest and Veroeven, who was cited for underage drinking, had a BAC of .13. Kolstad's BAC was .16. Shelley wasn't tested because he wasn't arrested until the following night.

Still thinking the person who punched Kolstad knew Nelson, the investigators tried several times to get him to identify the suspect. They told him Kolstad was badly injured and it was "going to be on him" if the other man wasn't found.

Nelson was eventually allowed to call Veroeven from the jail. Like all calls made by inmates, the conversation was recorded. Nelson told Veroeven he was extremely scared. Veroeven told him he wouldn't be in jail if the man in the red shirt, who hadn't been arrested at the time, hadn't punched Kolstad.

The end of their conversation shows how tragic the situation has been for three young men.

"Pray that, that guy's head is OK for me, OK," Nelson said.

"I will," Veroeven answered. "I'm praying on both sides."

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/new...cle_7d64ceb2-82f7-11e4-b463-0752aca59d57.html

So these parts:


Kaus told investigators Kolstad was being nice to Nelson, wishing him luck on his decision to leave the University of Minnesota to play quarterback for Rutgers. The argument started because Nelson mistook Kolstad for the bouncer.

"(They) came up to Phil and they're like, 'Hey, dude, best of luck at Rutgers. I hope everything works out,'" Kaus said. "But the kicker is that the bouncer that kissed her hand is half white, half black. Kolstad is half white, half black. Phil thought Kolstad was the bouncer."

When Nelson accused Kolstad of trying to hit on his girlfriend, Kolstad told Nelson he was married and wouldn't do that, Kaus said. At that point Nelson pushed Kolstad hard, which made Kolstad angry. That's when Kaus grabbed Kolstad and Thompson grabbed Nelson and took the men in different directions. Kaus and Thompson both said they tried to keep the other two men from taking the argument any further.
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Ends with a misdemeanor after many pages,misinformation and posts.
 

Its a story of how quickly things can go out of control. I havent been into a physical fight since about the age of 15, but reading what I read a post above, I could see this happening to me during my very early 20's.
 

skauma said:
Its a story of how quickly things can go out of control. I haven't been into a physical fight since about the age of 15, but reading what I read a post above, I could see this happening to me during my very early 20's.
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Sad, but true for a lot of people.
 

Iceland12 said:
Okay. Then was the lack of arm strength displayed by Nelson as a Gopher QB the reason that, when Phil hit/pushed Kolstad and started all of this, he didn't knock out or daze Koltsad the way Kolstad and Shelley did when they engaged in their cheapshot attacks?
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To begin with there was no punch so it's doubtful the larger man was dazed. Kolstad on the other hand got a run at the smaller Nelson and tried to hit him full strength from behind. Can you see how these are not the same?
 

CP Gopher said:
The majority of guys I know would not kick an unconscious man in the head, even in retaliation.
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Unless the individuals are drunk. Some people when they drink get happy and other get very mean. Also, booze, women, men and late hours are not a good combination.
 

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