A man charged with killing five young people in an Interstate 80 crash Sunday was caught driving with a suspended or revoked license at least four times in the past and as recently as December, court records show.
Arthur Andrew Nelson, 57, had a warrant issued for him out of Uintah County, Utah, for driving with no valid license, speeding 85-mph in a 65-mph zone and failing to stay in one lane. This was on Dec. 20 – one month before the Wyoming Highway Patrol says he caused the crash near Rawlins after driving the wrong direction on I-80 while intoxicated.
Nelson’s time spent in and out of prison started in Tennessee, where he lived for over two decades and had several encounters with law enforcement.
His first serious offense was recorded in Greene County, Tennessee in 1984, where he was found guilty of third-degree burglary, according to a series of Tennessee court documents. One year later, he was convicted of second-degree burglary in Washington County, Tennessee.
People are also reading…
Nelson was jailed for the burglary for an unknown amount of time, but he tried to escape after serving only one year, court records state.
He was released before 2001. That year, he pleaded guilty to driving on a suspended license for the second time, evading arrest and criminal impersonation in Washington County. He was caught driving with a revoked license and charged with felony evading arrest again two years later.
His crimes eventually became more serious.
He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of statutory rape in Washington County. While that case was being investigated, officials discovered that he was in possession of multiple guns and 109 rounds of ammunition. Nelson wasn’t allowed to be in the possession of any of these items because he was already a convicted felon.
Records show he was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2009, which means he would have been set for release around 2026. But he was let out early.
Nelson made his way over to Utah sometime after, where he was living in West Jordan, according to a series of Utah court records. His most recent offenses, and only ones found in Utah, were the driving charges against him at the end of last year.
The records don’t show whether he was ever arrested on the Utah warrant prior to the crash. The Wyoming wreck, which also injured four people — including one woman who suffered serious burns — was at least the fifth time Nelson had been caught driving without a valid license.
Nelson now faces 11 charges, the most serious of which are five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. Each carries a 20-year prison sentence if he is found guilty. He’s also charged with driving while under the influence causing serious bodily injury, reckless driving, reckless endangerment, and driving the wrong way on a highway.
Authorities say he admitted to taking methamphetamine the day before the multi-vehicle crash. He also failed a field sobriety test and was initially arrested for driving under the influence.
Nelson is scheduled to appear in Carbon County District Court at 3:30 pm Feb. 1 for a preliminary hearing.
Follow Sofia Saric on Twitter @Sofia_Saric.
Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter
Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.
Comments are closed.