Did operators think 911 call was a prank?

The Elgin, Illinois Police Department is investigating whether its 911 operators and possibly police officers believed a call from a 19-year-old man who had been kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a car was a prank, Elgin police said Saturday

Steeves made a frantic cell phone call to 911 shortly after 9 p.m., in which he told the operator he was locked in the trunk of a car and believed he was somewhere in Elgin.

A recording of the call released by police Friday indicates Steeves called twice, the first time telling the operator he was in his mother's 1997 Toyota Corolla, and pleading for police to come to South Street, before he was cut off.

When the operator called back, Steeves, sounding panicked, gave his name and said he was in the car's trunk, before the call was again disconnected.

When the 911 call taker gave Police the dispatch their comment was, “Call taker thinks it could be a prank but isn't definite on it," according to the recording.

Elgin Community College student David Steeves was found shot to death in the trunk of his mother's car in Rockford a week later.

Two men, Armin V. Henderson, 25, and Robert Guyton, 23, have been charged with 27 counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery in his death.

Would the student still be alive if the 911 operator would have taken the call seriously? Story here.

Comments

[caveman]

I agree completely. What a tragedy.

[anonymous]

Yes, I believe that there was a chance David could have been saved if his call wasn't deemed a prank. The staff who took care of this case should never have been allowed to work with public safety. Their unexcused incompetence and laziness makes me sick. The 911 Operator who took the frantic call was not helpful whatsoever. David was not asked if he was hurt, who had abducted him, or even his approximate location on the over 2 mile long road. David was not calmed and talked through this whole process, nor was he told to feel for the inner trunk release latch, a standard safety precaution on most newer model cars. Instead, David was just asked his name. He spelled and said his name 5 times over the 3 minute broken conversation. It has been documented that Dadid said and spelled his name clearly at least 3 of the 5 times. When the phone connection was lost for good, the dispatcher told the police officers in charge that "calltaker thinks it could be a prank". The police officers did a poor search of South Street that lasted less than 10 minutes. The police supervisor then labeled the frantic cry for help as a "uh, prank". That night the police did not call or check on David Steeves residence, which was known to them at the time. The police supervisor did not complete a preliminary investigation, nor document anything about the incident officially. The next morning, David's Bloody shoe was found next to a trail of blood where he had called 911 from the night before. The A.M. police shift were were oblivious to whose shoe or blood that it may have been. When the P.M. shift arrived, police were sent immediately to David Steeves house. His family was horrified to hear a clip of his frantic 911 call. David was found 5 days later in his trunk of the car he was abducted in. Elgin police plan to take "some sort of disciplinary action" on the call-taker and police supervisor, but both employees and the call-taker supervisor currently still work with the Elgin Police Department in Illinois. Both employees currently have lawyers and are fighting the allegations and disciplinary action. Elgin Police needs to not tolerate this kind of laziness and irrisponsiblity. Both employees and their superiors watching over them need to be permanently terminated and banned from working with public safety ever. Elgin Police owe it to the Steeves' family that and a public appology. The Steeves' family could very well easily sue, which no comment has been made yet about the situation. These people need to be fired all around the U.S.. There should never be these kind of unexcusable lazy employees in Public safety.