(WXYZ) You need help in a hurry... you know what to do: grab the phone and dial 911. But what if nobody answered? Or, as our Chief Investigator Steve Wilson shows us, what if they answered, refused to send help and repeatedly hung up the phone?
STEVE WILSON REPORTS IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ON THE RIGHT, THE STORY SCRIPT IS BELOW
In the Downriver city of Lincoln Park, citizens call 9-1-1 over 14,000 times each year, and let’s make it clear right up front: those emergency calls are generally well handled…but that makes what happened to Adrienne Ledesma no less shocking.
Adrainne Ledesma/Called for help: I was really scared because, you know, it’s my dad and he fell. He’s not supposed to fall like that.
His fall was so frightening because he was just three weeks out of the hospital where he underwent brain surgery and suddenly, he’s on the kitchen floor, unconscious and shaking with a severe seizure.
Ledesma: I was scared. I was freaking out.
So this 17-year-old high school senior grabbed her phone and dialed 911. She says she got no quick answer, so she hung-up and called again. Now you know those emergency calls are recorded, but did you know the recording starts even before the call is answered?
So you can hear her near-panic when again she can’t get an immediate answer, blurting out the f-word just as the call is picked up.
Ledesma: What the f***.
Sgt. Robert McFarland: 911.
Ledesma: I need an ambulance at (address).
But the Lincoln Park cop who takes the call admonishes her…and only makes her more frantic.
Sgt. McFarland: Well, okay, first of all you don’t need to swear over 9-1-1 and slow down.
Ledesma: Send me a f****** ambulance!
(Call is disconnected)
Wilson: You haven’t had a chance to tell him how serious this is and he’s hung up the phone.
Ledesma: I thought my dad was gonna die. I was really scared.
Wilson: So you called back…
Sgt. McFarland: 911.
Ledesma: Are you going to give me an ambulance?
Sgt. McFarland: Are you going to swear again, you stupid ass?
Ledesma: Are we going to have an f****** problem?
Sgt. McFarland: No, you’re not going to get one!
Ledesma: Do you want to f****** lose your job?
(Call is disconnected)
Wilson: Your dad’s still on the floor.
Ledesma: Well I’m thinking he’s seriously hurt because he’s still having a seizure. This is a really long seizure and I’m thinking I want to complain about this guy because he shouldn’t be hanging up on me.
So she calls back a third time.
Sgt. McFarland: 911.
Ledesma: I just want to know what’s your name because you’re getting sued.
Sgt. McFarland: Good.
Ledesma: What is it?
Sgt. McFarland: Good for you because you’re a buffoon.
Ledesma: Send the f****** ambulance!
(Call is disconnected)
After wasting more than six minutes, the cop finally called the rescue squad:
Fire dept: Fire desk.
Sgt. McFarland: I kept getting a 911 call…from this filthy-mouth girl that wanted a rescue…I never found out what it was and I was never able to transfer it over to you.
And that’s the same story McFarland told on the police radio when he dispatched a squad car to the house.
Sgt. McFarland: (on police radio): I kept getting 9-1-1 calls from this girl, hostile girl…requesting a rescue. No idea what it’s for. I couldn’t get through her comments.
Meanwhile, Ledesma left her older brother to tend to her dad and rushed a few blocks here to police headquarters to demand help and file a complaint. By now, she was even more agitated when the cop greeted her with this:
Ledesma: Are you the girl with the foul mouth? And I said yes, and he came out from the back and then arrested, put me in the back room and then arrested me.
That’s right she was cuffed and cited for “disorderly conduct” and “abusing 9-1-1,” a charge that doesn’t even exist. So, who is this officer who so badly mishandled such an important job? He’s Sgt. Robert McFarland, a 20-year veteran of the department, and a man who did his best to avoid accountability for what he did.
Wilson: Sergeant, help us understand…
Sgt. McFarland: Get out of here!
Wilson: What were you thinking?
Sgt. McFarland: No comment!
Wilson: What were you thinking, sir? You put a life in danger, you put the taxpayer’s at risk…
He has publicly said nothing at all about his conduct that day, while his boss, Lincoln Park’s Chief of Police Tom Karnes, did nothing to avoid responsibility, agreeing to an interview in which he was refreshingly candid and made no excuses. He frankly admitted “my guy screwed up on this”…but still says he can’t imagine just why it happened like this.
Wilson: He never once asked what’s wrong, are you in an emergency situation, do you need an ambulance, is somebody dying?
Chief Thomas Karnes/Lincoln Park Police: No he did not…it’s not, obviously something happened there, something that is totally out of his character.
In fact, a review of Sgt McFarland’s record shows several commendations over the years and positive performance evaluations in recent years, and not a single disciplinary action against him.
Ledesma: Anybody who finds their dad like that is gonna be panicking so I think they’re trained to know that people are gonna be freaking out when they call…I wouldn’t feel bad is he got suspended, maybe fired.
Chief Karnes: Is a 30-day suspension (enough)? I think it may be something where he will lose time over, and he’ll have training.
Wilson: But he’ll have his job.
Chief Karnes: Yes.
Since agreeing to be interviewed by Action News, Chief Thomas Karnes has announced that Sgt. Robert McFarland will face a two-week suspension with no pay, and will take part in additional training. Meanwhile, Ledesma and her father who is home recovering has hired an attorney, and they’re talking settlement with the Lincoln Park.
