DALLAS — Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Damien Wilson was arrested in Frisco, Texas, last week on an assault charge after his ex-girlfriend said he threatened to kill her with a tire iron and destroyed her laptop after a breakup.
Wilson, who was signed last month by the Carolina Panthers, faces a charge of assault with bodily injury of a family member, Frisco police Sgt. Stephen Byrom said in an email. Byrom said he had no information about which jail Wilson was booked in, or whether he had bonded out.
Wilson’s attorney, Toby Shook, disputed the assault allegations.
“Damien Wilson did not commit any type of assault,” Shook said. “We look forward to all the facts coming out so his name can be cleared.”
A Panthers spokesperson said the team was aware of Wilson’s arrest but had no further comment because of the pending legal matter. The spokesperson said Wilson was still on the team’s roster Monday.
A police report was not immediately available, but in an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Wilson’s ex-girlfriend, Ryan Sokolosky, said she feared for her life after Wilson showed up enraged and drunk at her apartment after she broke up with him.
The News typically does not name alleged victims of domestic violence, but Sokolosky gave permission for her name to be published.
Sokolosky said she and Wilson began dating in March 2020 but eventually broke up. They got back together in February, and Wilson was doting and affectionate, she said, writing her letters by hand and sending her flowers.
But on Friday, she said, she caught him cheating with another woman. She told Wilson their relationship was over and went to his house to grab her things.
When she went back to her apartment accompanied by a friend, she found Wilson had damaged her patio, Sokolosky said. Both women grabbed Sokolosky’s dogs and went back to her car.
She said Wilson emerged from bushes holding a tire iron and threatened to kill her.
Sokolosky said her friend ran back into Sokolosky’s apartment. Wilson ran toward Sokolosky’s car before following the friend into the apartment, where Sokolosky said Wilson choked the woman.
Sokolosky said Wilson then emerged from her apartment holding a blanket that had something inside of it. She said Wilson told Sokolosky that her cat was inside the blanket before slamming it to the ground.
“I was screaming like I’m being skinned alive,” Sokolosky said. The cat wasn’t inside the blanket, but her laptop was.
Sokolosky said Wilson got into his car and tried running her over before driving off. She shared pictures of her destroyed laptop and damage to her patio.
Sokolosky said she has obtained a protective order against Wilson. She said she wanted to speak out because she believes he shouldn’t be in the NFL.
“He thinks all of it’s a joke because he’s rich and thinks he’s going to get out of everything,” she said.
Last week’s incident wasn’t Wilson’s first brush with the law. In 2017, he was arrested on aggravated assault charges outside Frisco’s Toyota Stadium after a woman said he had backed his pickup truck into her and threatened a man with a rifle.
Wilson told police in an interview that he had road rage. A grand jury declined to indict Wilson.
Wilson was drafted by the Cowboys out of the University of Minnesota in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL draft. He also played for the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl LIV-winning team before joining the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021.
