Carolina Panthers linebacker Damien Wilson, who was arrested last week in Frisco, Texas, after his ex-girlfriend said he threatened to kill her, is out of jail on a $5,000 bond.
Wilson was in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday for the start of offseason workouts, but wasn’t at Bank of America Stadium on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Defensive coordinator Phil Snow, during a video call with reporters on Tuesday, declined to make any comment on the 28-year-old Wilson, who signed a two-year, $6.9 million deal with Carolina in free agency.
Wilson, a fourth-round pick by Dallas in 2015, faces a charge of assault with bodily injury of a family member, according to the arrest report obtained by ESPN. His attorney, Toby Shook, denied the allegations.
According to the arrest report, an officer was dispatched to the Frisco apartment of Wilson’s ex-girlfriend, Ryan Sokolosky, on Saturday at 3:36 a.m. in response to a domestic abuse disturbance.
Sokolosky told police that Wilson stole her keys and other items and choked her friend. She said he also destroyed her laptop by wrapping it in a blanket and slamming it to the ground, telling her it was her cat, before leaving in a red Nissan pickup.
Sokolosky told the responding officer she began dating Wilson in 2020, and that their relationship continued for about one and a half years before they broke up. She said they recently began dating again three months ago.
According to the arrest report, Sokolosky said she was at Wilson’s house most of Friday before leaving with her friend to go to a local establishment, where they ran into Wilson, who “appeared to be with another girl.”
Sokolosky and her friend, according to the report, returned to Wilson’s house and discovered another woman’s belongings in his bathroom. Sokolosky said she threw the woman’s belongings into Wilson’s pool before throwing her key to his home in the bushes and leaving.
Sokolosky, who gave permission for her name to be used, said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News that when she caught Wilson cheating with another woman, she told him their relationship was over and went to his house to grab her things.
Shook told ESPN on Wednesday that Sokolosky wasn’t Wilson’s girlfriend and “didn’t have a key to his house.”
Sokolosky told police she returned to her apartment to find Wilson “hiding in the bushes.” Sokolosky’s friend said she was on the phone with Sokolosky as Sokolosky entered the apartment garage to go to her car when she saw Wilson “running into the garage and throwing something at Ryan’s vehicle.”
Sokolosky and her friend then called the police. Sokolosky said that at one point during the encounter, Wilson appeared with something wrapped inside a blanket that he said was Sokolosky’s cat. As Sokolosky attempted to retrieve what she thought was her cat, she said Wilson pushed her away from him and the action caused two of her nails to break to the point of bleeding. Wilson then threw the blanket containing only the laptop on the ground.
The police report said the responding officer determined Wilson was the primary aggressor and “assaulted Ryan causing bodily injury.” Because the two were involved in a dating relationship, Wilson faces a charge of bodily injury to a family member.
Sokolosky told the Dallas Morning News that when Wilson, who she said was drunk, emerged from the bushes at her apartment, he was holding a tire iron and threatened to kill her.
There was no mention of a tire iron, which could have taken the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony, in the arrest report.
“The alleged victim has told reporters that Damien Wilson threatened her life with a tire iron and threatened to run over her with a car,” Shook told ESPN. “Those would be felonies in Texas. In the police report she never mentioned those allegations.”
The officer on the scene reported there were “visible injuries” to Sokolosky and “probable cause” that Wilson committed the offense.
No court date has been set.