Inmate Charged with Assaulting Corrections Officer in Otter Tail County Jail

Elijah Nelson. (OTCDF)

Fergus Falls, MN – An Apple Valley man has been charged for assaulting a deputy at the Otter Tail County Detention Facility.

Prosecutors say the deputy was completing wellness checks in one of the cell blocks on June 18, 2026, when 25-year-old Elijah Nelson approached them about speaking with a social worker. The deputy told Nelson that he needed to put a message in the cell block kiosk. The deputy said Nelson then became confrontational, stating he wasn’t going to keep playing games and approached the officer. The deputy told Nelson that they would put him in lockdown, but Nelson refused to go back to his room.

Court documents say the deputy radioed for backup, at which point Nelson ran out of the cell block door. The deputy grabbed Nelson and pulled him back to the cell block as other correctional officers arrived.

Prosecutors say that as the deputy was getting Nelson into his cell, he swung his left arm striking the deputy in the nose and the left side of the face. The officer then placed Nelson on the ground. He then reached back and scratched the deputy’s face. After Nelson was secured, the deputy noticed that they were bleeding from their nose, cheek, and ear.

Nelson made his first court appearance Monday afternoon and is charged with two counts of 4^th degree assault of a peace officer. He was originally in custody for charges of 3^rd and 5^th degree assault.