911 Call Details Events Leading to Damon Wilson's Death
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Updated: 5:05 AM Sep 15, 2010
911 Call Details Events Leading to Damon Wilson's Death
Lincoln
Joni Wilson's 911 call details the events leading to her son Damon's death after a high speed pursuit.
Posted: 12:36 PM Sep 2, 2010
Reporter: 10/11 News
Email Address: desk@1011now.com
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August 23 Joni Wilson called 911. According to authorities her 17-year-old son Damon tried to break into her house and had threatened her.

10/11 has obtained the 911 call detailing the events that would eventually lead to a high speed chase and Damon Wilson's death.

On the 911 tape Joni Wilson can be heard asking for help because her son broke her car windows, a window to her house and her television with a machete. Wilson also tells a dispatcher that Damon threatened her.

During the call Wilson can be heard pleading with Damon to stop. At one point she tells the dispatcher that Damon was "crazy". She also tells the dispatcher that "he's got a machete, he's coming to get me."

At one point in the call, Joni yells at Damon and tells the dispatcher that he hit a woman with a hammer. She can then be heard yelling to Damon saying "Don't touch her no more please."

Near the end of the call Damon takes Joni's car as deputies arrive. Joni then pleads with authorities to leave him alone because he was inexperienced.

"He's in the Taurus, but he doesn't know how to drive. Tell that cop he doesn't know how to drive. Tell him not to chase him, he doesn't know how to drive."

The 911 tape also includes dispatcher information during the high speed pursuit. It details deputies waiting for backup and following at a distance. Then when the deputies attempt to pull Wilson over he speeds up.

On the tape a deputy can be heard describing the speeds, starting at 40 mph and reaching more that 105 mph before Wilson tried to pass a car and hit a truck head on.

Damon's mother spoke to 10/11 News about those tapes and her son's situation that day.

The chilling memories flood back for Wilson as she hears her 911 call for the first time. "It's kind of hard to relive that moment again."

Since last Monday, Wilson has been replaying the situation over in her head. "I'll always ask myself, what could I have done differently but I was so scared, I reacted with fear and I called the police to help."

To make matters worse, Wilson read dozens of comments on our web channel blaming her for Damon's death. "It just makes me angry that they can judge when they don't know what really happened."

And what really happened is what investigators are trying to figure out. Did deputies take the right action? Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner hopes these calls will determine that. "They're basing their decisions upon what they knew at that time and that's how you have to look at the recordings and the transcripts. How much of this information did they have available at the time."

Wilson hopes investigators realize not all of the information that day was accurate.

At the time, Wilson thought Damon hit her daughter with a sledgehammer, leading police to believe damon was already a felon on the run.

Wilson says, "He didn't hit her. He had the opportunity really to hurt both of us and he didn't."

But by the sounds of the situation, deputies had every reason to believe he would've.

Wilson says, "The boy that was right there at that moment was not Damon."

But Damon's actions that day led to a tragic situation for everyone involved.

Wagner says, "Nobody wins in this situation. Not the Wilson family, not our department. This is a tragic event that nobody wanted to have happen."

A Grand Jury will investigate the entire situation including the pursuit.

You can listen to Joni Wilson's entire 911 call. Be advised it does contain adult language and several expletives.

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