Police: Deceased Man Took Heroin, PCP Before Officers Used Tasers

A Manassas man who died after being stunned with a Taser told police shortly before his death he’d taken heroin and PCP, according to a press release issued Sunday evening by Prince William County Police.

The release provided more details about the events leading to the death of 29-year-old Debro Lamonte Wilkerson, saying that he assaulted several firefighters, a police officer, and a relative and escaped twice from an ambulance where he was being treated.

EMS called police to the scene at 11000 Hiram Court in the Coverstone Phase II community Saturday afternoon after Wilkerson became combative, according to police reports. 

 When they arrived, police saw Wilkerson’s behavior change from calm to increasingly combative, according to the release.

 At one point, he screamed at a paramedic and lunged at the officer protecting that person.  That’s when the officer used the Taser on Wilkerson, according to reports.

 Partially handcuffed, police said he jumped out of the ambulance, screaming and then assaulted one of his family members.

 Police told Wilkerson they would use pepper spray if he didn’t let the woman go.

Wilkerson left the woman alone and allowed police to escort him, handcuffed, back to the ambulance. Police said that’s when Wilkerson told them he’d been using PCP and heroin.

 Police said Wilkerson escaped again from the ambulance after knocking down an officer.

 Officers again used a Taser on Wilkerson who fell while running.  Police held him on the ground while EMS workers administered medication.

 It is not clear what type of medication was used.

 Police said Wilkerson eventually became “passive” and police and EMS put him on a stretcher and placed him back into the ambulance.  Soon, his vital signs deteriorated and EMS workers could no longer find a pulse.

 Paramedics tried to treat him, but he died at a local hospital Saturday, according to the release.

 Danielle Weiner, who lives in the Coverstone Phase II community, said she witnessed the entire episode with her husband and she, like her neighbors, has questions about how Wilkerson met his demise.

On Sunday afternoon, Weiner sat under a small tree on Norte Dame Court with her husband and discussed what happened in their neighborhood 24 hours earlier.

 She doesn’t understand why Wilkerson was stunned more than once and why he was handcuffed if he wasn’t under arrest, Weiner said.

 A family member of the deceased told her Wilkerson complained of chest pains and that’s why they called EMS, she said.

 “I work in the medical field and I wonder, why are you going to stun someone who just said they were having chest pains?” Weiner said.

 Weiner, who is very active in the Coverstone community, said she grabbed her dog and inched closer to the scene to investigate on Saturday. 

 “ I hear the guy inside and he’s upset more than usual. He was out the window cursing at some girl,” she said. “I mean that ambulance was just a rocking. He was saying, ‘Take me to jail, I don’t care about my probation.'  I mean, the man was requesting to go to jail, why didn’t they just take him to jail?”

 Weiner said she saw the man jump from the ambulance wearing only his socks, underwear and handcuffs with a crowd of officers in pursuit. 

The male officers pulled back while several female officers continue the chase and deployed their Tasers, she said.

 “I mean, was he that big of a threat? Did they have to stun him?” Weiner said.

 Dozens of police cars and fire officials swarmed the end of Norte Dame Court from the time the incident happened at 3 p.m. until just before Midnight, she said.

 She hadn’t seen that much law enforcement activity since there was a suspect in the area attacking women, Weiner, an 8-year resident of Coverstone, said.

 She takes an active role in her community and reports crime to the authorities when she sees it, but she would like more answers about Wilkerson’s death and soon, Weiner said. 

An autopsy is slated for Monday, police said.