Nebraska's Cook to face charges; 911 call released

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)â€"Nebraska volleyball star Lauren Cook will be charged in last month’s traffic incident that left two people injured in what authorities called a hit-and-run accident.

Lancaster County Deputy Attorney Patrick Condon said his office planned to charge Cook, but declined to say what charge or charges she would face. Her arraignment is Tuesday.

Cook is the daughter of Nebraska women’s volleyball coach John Cook. She was suspended for this past weekend’s matches, and coach Cook said Monday that her status was unchanged for the No. 2 Huskers, who play Indiana and Purdue this weekend.

Cook was driving an SUV that authorities say hit a motorcyclist in Lincoln on Oct. 30. Cook was arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of an injury accident and ticketed for driving on a suspended license. The driver of the motorcycle broke his leg, and his passenger was scraped up.

Audio of Cook’s 911 call was released Monday. The 20-year-old Cook’s voice is shaky during the 3 1/2 -minute call, which she made eight minutes after the accident and, according to police, after she spoke with her mother.

“I was driving and a motorcyclist stopped in my neighborhood and I kind of sideswiped them, and I freaked out so I kept driving and my car was doing really weird things, so I’m actually further away from the accident. … I want to make sure they’re OK and I don’t want to be caused for, charged for, a hit and run,” Cook said in the call.

The operator and Cook went back-and-forth for most of the call trying to pin down her exact location in north Lincoln. Cook was on her way to campus to receive treatment from athletic department staff.

A witness who lives nearby, Andra Backer, first reported the accident. Backer said in her 911 call that the motorcyclists, who were pulled over to the side of the street, were hit and that the driver of the SUV left the scene.

Police located Cook a half mile away, her vehicle disabled because of a shredded front tire. She was in Lancaster County Jail for three hours before an unidentified person posted $500 bond.

Leaving the scene of an injury accident is a felony punishable by a maximum of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.

Lauren Cook has been ticketed for speeding six times in Nebraska since 2007. She has taken two defensive-driving courses.

Her license was suspended Oct. 3 for failure to comply with an order to enroll in a driver-improvement course. That course is required in Nebraska for a driver under 21 who has lost six points from his or her license over a 12-month span.

Lauren Cook attended high school in Lincoln and started her college career at UCLA, where she was national freshman of the year in 2009. She transferred to Nebraska in 2010 and was Big 12 newcomer of the year.