SCRANTON -- The preliminary hearing for three teens charged in the death of Scranton Police Officer John Wilding was held Friday in Scranton.
Officer Wilding died from injuries he suffered while chasing the three teens after an alleged robbery in July of 2015.
The bulk of the testimony in the preliminary hearing came from officers who were working the overnight shift on July 11, 2015 who chased the three teenagers, Nasiir Jones, Isiah Edwards, and Tanner Curtis, after an alleged armed robbery.
They went through the chase moment by moment, sometimes breaking down when describing the moment Officer Wilding was injured.
Russell Krobert was first to testify about what happened to him in the early morning hours of July 11, the event that set everything else in motion.
He saw two teens in what we now know was a stolen SUV. One teen points a shotgun at Krobert and demands he empty his pockets.
Prosecutors say there were actually three teens in the SUV: Nasiir Jones, Isiah Edwards, and Tanner Curtis. They are charged with second-degree murder for what happened next.
The most emotional testimony came from Scranton Police officers working the overnight shift on July 11.
After a chase, they cornered the teens in an area along North Main Avenue in Scranton's west side.
Then, as Officer Eric Lindsay testified, "I heard 'officer down' on the radio. For me, everything stopped."
The officer down was John Wilding. He would later die from a traumatic brain injury from a fall during the foot chase.
Officers described the moment they found Isiah Edwards hiding in an enclosure behind a building and took him into custody.
Officer Anthony Shields said, "I heard a very loud thump. After I heard the thump, I heard what sounded like a big gasp for air."
It was Wilding, having fallen 15 feet from a wall above the enclosure.
Prosecutors are trying to prove that Jones, Edwards, and Curtis should go to trial on second-degree murder charges because if they had not committed the robbery earlier in the night, Officer Wilding would still be alive.
Before the hearing began on Friday, Lackawanna County prosecutors filed more charges against Jones, Edwards, and Curtis. They added a charge of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy.