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Motorist Reports Drunk Driver to 9-1-1: Herself
Bizarre calls to the "9-1-1 emergency" line are the stuff of legend. There is the woman who called 9-1-1 (audio available here) because she thought the police officer who had just visited her house on a complaint was a "cutie pie" and she wanted him to come back (he did come back and arrested her for misusing 9-1-1).
There is the woman who called (audio available here) because she believed she was locked inside her car when the electrical system failed. The dispatcher suggested "pulling up the lock," which promptly ended the emergency.
But what about the Oct. 24, 2009 call made by Wisconsin's Mary Strey? Strey used her cell phone to call 9-1-1 and report that "Somebody's really drunk driving down Granton Road." The dispatcher then sought more information on her location:
Dispatcher: Are they going toward Granton or going toward Neillsville?
Strey: Towards Granton.
Dispatcher: OK, are you behind them, or?
Strey: No, I am them.
Dispatcher: You am them?
Strey: Yes, I am them.
Dispatcher: OK, so you want to call in and report that you’re driving drunk?
Strey: Yes.
The New York Daily News reports that Strey told the dispatcher she called because, "I don't want to hurt anybody. I'm drunk." The dispatcher convinced her to pull over, and she later told officers she'd had seven or eight brandy and Cokes at several bars.
Strey's call joins the 9-1-1 call Hall of Fame, but her call may well have saved someone's life, as well as her own.
Posted by Bruce Carton on November 11, 2009 at 03:25 PM | Permalink
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