A 911 call and police bodycam footage from the night that late Storage Wars star Darrell Sheets died have been released, shedding new light on his death.
Emergency dispatch audio obtained by Us Weekly on Thursday, July 9, offers key details on the initial investigation into Sheets’ April death. Police were first alerted to distress at Sheets’ Lake Havasu City, Arizona, home on April 22 during a 911 call from a woman whose name was redacted but identified herself as his “girlfriend.” (TMZ was the first to report the news.)
“I think he just killed himself,” the caller tells an emergency dispatcher in the call.
The caller later confirmed that she was in the garage at the time but was reluctant to search the main house for Sheets.
“I don’t want to look,” she tells the dispatcher in the audio.
After she was instructed to “wait in the garage” until police arrived, the caller expressed total shock at Sheets’ death.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe it,” she admits to the dispatcher.
The caller later said that she never knew of Sheets trying to harm himself in the past.
A police report obtained by Us on Wednesday, July 8, included a subsequent interview with Darrell’s unnamed girlfriend where she told investigators that he was “dealing with issues” prior to his death.
Us previously learned that Sheets had been a victim of cyberbullying, a topic he vented about in his apparent suicide note also revealed in the new police report.
The girlfriend recalled that Darrell was generally in “good” spirits in his final days, aside from an incident where he allegedly “verbally fought over family drama” with his son Brandon. (Darrell also had a daughter named Tiffany.)
Us has reached out to Brandon for comment.
Darrell Sheets in 2013. Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images
Us also obtained police bodycam footage in which one officer mentioned to another that Darrell starred on Storage Wars, referencing the signature pickup trucks that the Sheets family drove on the A&E reality show.
The Lake Havasu City Police Department previously confirmed that Darrell was found dead at age 67 on April 22.
“The male was pronounced deceased on scene, and the Lake Havasu City Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit was notified and responded to the scene to assume the investigation,” a police spokesperson told Us at the time.
Darrell was last seen at his Lake Havasu City antique shop hours before his death by suicide, with fans describing him as being in a friendly and jovial mood.
Darrell Sheets in 2012. Jason Kempin/Getty Images for A&E Networks
However, many of those close to Darrell — including multiple Storage Wars costars — reported that he was tormented by cyberbullying in the months leading up to his death. A police spokesperson confirmed to Us in April that investigators were “aware of the cyberbullying accusations involved in this incident and these claims are a part of the active investigation.”
Darrell made multiple social media posts about the alleged bullying, including claiming he had a “cyberbully stalker” in one March post.
“I have been hacked by a very evil person,” Darrell wrote via Facebook on March 9. “The clown. [The posts] are not done by me, they are being done by … very evil people. I’m not gay, I have made no posts about any children’s arcade owner, etc. I’m extremely sorry and sick over this.”
Storage Wars stars Laura and Dan Dotson have claimed that Darrell Sheets feared for his life due to alleged cyberbullying before his death. “His family told us that this has been happening for three years,” Laura, 57, exclusively tells Us Weekly. “[It happens to] even strong men that you think aren’t gonna get their feelings […]
Storage Wars alum Rene Nezhoda said at the time that Darrell confided in him about his concerns over the alleged cyberbullying.
“I know Darrell would want something positive out of this. He had a guy really tormenting him lately on cyberbullying,” he told TMZ of Sheets’ death. “Just cause you watch us on television doesn’t mean you know us … it doesn’t mean you know what we’re about. Also it doesn’t entitle you to bully somebody.”
Us obtained a police report on Wednesday in which an apparent suicide note from Darrell was included.
“I could not take anymore, the Facebook bullying,” he allegedly wrote. “F*** you, [redacted].”
Police described making contact with someone whom Darrell accused of bullying him, though they noted that this person was “extremely uncooperative” and insisted they were “nowhere near” Lake Havasu City or Arizona in the days leading up to Darrell’s death. This person claimed that they’d received “death threats” since Darrell’s death but refused to provide more information, per Lake Havasu City police.
Darrell was a mainstay on A&E’s Storage Wars from 2010 to 2023, where he was affectionately called “The Gambler.”
“We are saddened by the passing of a beloved member of our Storage Wars family, Darrell ‘The Gambler’ Sheets,” a spokesperson for A&E told Us in April. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
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