HONOLULU — A 45-minute wait was far too long for a police officer responding to a 911 call of an intruder in a Waimanalo home, Honolulu’s police chief says. ADVERTISING HONOLULU — A 45-minute wait was far too long for
HONOLULU — A 45-minute wait was far too long for a police officer responding to a 911 call of an intruder in a Waimanalo home, Honolulu’s police chief says.
The department continues to investigate the matter six months later and is trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again, Chief Louis Kealoha told KHON-TV.
“At face value, I can tell you that is unacceptable. We’re going to look into why that happened, has it happened before, and we’re going to do everything to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Kealoha said.
According to a transcript of the 911 call, Waimanalo resident Donald Crummer just before 6 a.m. May 24 called to report an intruder in his daughter’s bedroom. The man was asleep on a second bed in the teenager’s room.
A dispatcher instructed Crummer to take his family outside and wait for officers.
He called a second time 12 minutes later and was told officers were on their way.
He called again after 30 minutes and after 40 minutes. Police arrived after 45 minutes, arrested a man inside and charged him with unauthorized entry into a home.
Crummer said the long response time changed his life.
“I’m having a hard time sleeping at night only for the simple fact that now I’m waking up at least one or two times a night, and at least checking my doors and windows once a night,” he said. “And I don’t have a whole lot feeling of security anymore in my house.”
The delayed response happened during a shift change, the chief said.
The man arrested, John Fritz, pleaded no contest Sept. 30 and is scheduled for sentencing in January.
