Man who waited to get his dying girlfriend medical help because he was afraid of going to jail ended up there anyway: Cops

Background: News footage of the scene where Allen Michael Alberts crashed his pickup truck on May 2 (WDAY). Inset (left): Allen Michael Alberts (Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office). Inset (right): Nichole Shoultz (Facebook).

A Minnesota man who was allegedly trying to avoid legal trouble when he violated a no-contact order against his girlfriend is now charged with manslaughter.

Allen Michael Alberts, 33, was charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of his girlfriend, 40-year-old Nichole Shoultz. According to court documents obtained by local news outlet DL-Online.com, Alberts and Shoultz were on their way home during the early morning hours of May 2 after drinking at a bar. While Alberts was driving them in his pickup truck, they started arguing before their altercation became physical.

Alberts reportedly pulled over and got out of the truck. Shoultz then got behind the wheel, drove away, then crashed about half a mile from the home they shared.

Police said Shoultz was thrown from the pickup after the crash and landed in a field. Alberts claimed that he could not find her, so he went back to his house. He came back with his car, looked for Shoultz again, and found her unresponsive.

Instead of calling for medical assistance, Alberts allegedly brought Shoultz back to his house and put her in the bathtub, where he tried to wake her up. Police said that after nearly three hours, he called his mother to help him move her to a couch, where she stopped breathing.

According to court documents, Alberts had a no-contact order against him after a March 1 incident during which he allegedly strangled Shoultz. Police said Alberts did not call 911 after finding Shoultz because he had violated that order.

By the time Alberts brought Shoultz to the hospital, she was dead.

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Alberts was charged with violating a no-contact order and second-degree manslaughter. He is currently in custody at the Otter Tail County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $500,000 bond. His next court date is scheduled for May 18.