Curtiss man found guilty on all charges
A Curtiss man has been found guilty of all charges stemming from a May 2, 2019, attack on a police officer.
The jury did not need to deliberate for very long before finding Dan W. Willison, 57, guilty of all charges on his Thursday, Jan. 13, trial.
In fact, it took less than an hour for the jury to find Willison guilty of first degree recklessly endangering safety, along with a fifth offense OWI and bail jumping. On May 2 of 2019, Colby/Abbotsford police offi cer Kyle Jolin responded to an anonymous complaint regarding Willison, who was wanted by police on two warrants.
CAPD was contacted to perform a welfare check on a relative who was in a relationship with Willison at the time, and was staying with him at the Home Motel in Abbotsford. Jolin recognized Willison’s vehicle in the parking lot when he arrived, and spotted him in the driver’s seat. Jolin approached Willison with his flashlight and service weapon drawn and informed Willison he was with CAPD.
Jolin began to approach Willison from the front of the vehicle, who then accelerated, ramming into Jolin, who then landed on the hood of Willison’s vehicle, a dark-colored PT Cruiser, and Jolin clung to the hood of the vehicle.
According to court documents, Jolin managed to fire two shots at Willison before falling off the vehcile. Willson was struck once in the chest, but managed to drive away.
Jolin’s body camera was on, and body cam footage showed the entire event took just four seconds. Court documents noted that Willison fled from Home Motel at a rate exceeding the speed limit, northbound on Hwy. 13. A Clark County deputy saw Willison’s vehicle approach, and pursued him. The pursuit spanned ten miles, with speeds reaching in excess of 100 miles per hour, which included a path through the village of Milan in a 25 mile per hour zone.
Willison eventually turned westbound on Hwy. 29 towards Marathon County before turning onto the shoulder, where he proceeded to abandon his vehicle and took off on foot into a corn field adjacent to the highway, according to police.
Jolin and the Clark County deputy chased Willison through the corn field and eventually caught him. Blood was drawn from Willison, and showed a blood alcohol concentration of .184.
Willison was bleeding from Jolin’s gun shot to his chest, and he was subsequently taken to a hospital for treatment where he survived his injuries.
Charges were filed against Jolin on July 15, 2019, and a cash bond was set at $150,000, with Marathon County District Attorney Theresa Wetzsteon citing Willison’s criminal history, dating as far back as 1982 as a reason for why the bond should be $150,000 cash.
On Tuesday, Jan. 11, a jury was sworn in and attorneys for the prosecution and defense made their opening statements. Officer Jolin was the state’s first witness, and gave a 90 minute testimony. More testimony was heard from Officer James Wenger, and the body cam footage was shown. After the jury deliberated for an hour, they reached their guilty verdict.
Willison faces up to 44 years in prison.
