NEW MEXICO, USA — A Scottsdale man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for trying to murder a police officer after he fired gunshots through a car window, blasting shards of glass into the officer's hands and face.
Robert Benjamin Nelson, 31, pleaded guilty earlier this year to attempted murder of a federal task force officer and discharging a gun while committing a violent crime.
The charges stem from a traffic stop conducted on Sept. 12, 2020 near the Laguna area in New Mexico, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of New Mexico.
A New Mexico State Police officer, who was working as a task force officer for a federal agency, stopped Nelson for driving too closely behind another car. As the officer approached the passenger side of Nelson's vehicle, the Arizona man raised a firearm up to the window and fired three times.
The blast caused shards of glass to hit the officer's face and hands as she fell to the ground. The officer then got up and started firing her weapon at Nelson's vehicle as he drove off, according to video footage of the incident.
The officer pursued Nelson and eventually caught up to him on Interstate 40. After pulling him over again, the officer observed Nelson retrieve a rifle from the floorboard of his vehicle before back-up officers arrived and helped take Nelson into custody.
The incident resulted in the officer sustaining permanent injuries to her hands and one of her eyes, prosecutors said.
After completing his lengthy prison sentence, Nelson will be placed on supervised release for four years.
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