Deputy Racing to 911 Call Didn't Get All Info Before Crash

A Calvert County sheriff's deputy speeding to the scene of a domestic violence call never received information that might have caused him to slow down in the minutes before a collision that killed a teenager, according to interviews and recordings of emergency communication.

Rachael A. Campbell, 18, of Dunkirk was killed July 24 when Deputy C. Wayne Wells crashed into her vehicle at Route 4 and Apple Way. Wells, who was driving faster than 100 mph, was responding to a priority one emergency domestic violence call.

But three minutes before the crash, the victim of the domestic violence incident told emergency dispatchers that she thought her attacker had left her home, according to 911 emergency recordings. The recordings indicate that that information was never given to Wells.

"The fact that the aggressor in the domestic dispute had left was made known to the call center before our crash occurred," said Keith Franz, an attorney for Campbell's family. "We believe that the call center could have and should have alerted the responders that she thought he was gone."

Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans disagreed. "Based on their opinion at the time, it was [still] a priority one call," he said. "That is why it was coded as such."

A priority one call means that someone's life is in danger, Evans said, and deputies respond with lights and siren.

According to the July 24 emergency recordings, the 911 operator ended the last call with the woman by telling her to call back if the aggressor, her husband, was still nearby.

"If he is still there, you can call me back," the 911 operator said. "Right now, I've told them you believe he has left," she said. The call was disconnected about 10:44 a.m.

The dispatcher never relayed that information to Wells. His last conversation with the control center occurred at 10:43 a.m. Wells asked dispatchers to verify the address and repeat what had happened.

A dispatcher said, "The husband kicked in the door, threatened to kill her. She is not sure if he is still there or not. She has locked herself in the house."

Jackie Vaughan, director of communications for Calvert's control center, said dispatchers did not tell Wells of the end of the 911 call because they didn't think it changed the situation.

"The information didn't change because [the woman] still didn't know if [her husband] was there or not," Vaughan said.