Tulsa Woman Comes Face To Face With Burglar While On Hold With 911

<p>A young Tulsa said while she was holding with 911 she came face to face with one of the burglars.</p><span id="selectionBoundary_1405036031810_7009938224218786" class="rangySelectionBoundary" style="line-height: 0; display: none;">?</span>

Thursday, July 10th 2014, 7:48 pm

By: News On 6


A young Tulsa woman had a terrifying experience when burglars kicked in her front door while she was home alone. She called 911 but got a recording telling her she was in the system and to hold on the line. She said while she was holding she came face to face with one of the burglars.

When she heard the men knocking, she called her dad first, but when the burglars kicked in the door, she hung up with him and called 911.

The woman lives nears 41st Street and Sheridan and expected to see officers first, but instead it was her father, who works in Sapulpa, that showed up first.

Sally: "I was standing right here, looking out, when I heard them break in, so I ran to the closet and shut the door."

Lori: "And, you felt pressure on the knob and he pulled it open and that's when you were face to face? What did you say?"

Sally: "I said, please go away, please go away."

He could see she had her phone up to her ear and turned and left, not knowing she was on hold with 911.

Sally went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and was pacing in the living room when, after nearly two minutes, someone at 911 answered.

"I just felt helpless. You call hoping they will be there right away and what do I do, what do I do? They're in my house, I don't have anything, even if I had a weapon, I don't have time to get it," she said.

Sally's father, Randy, bolted out of his job and raced to the house as fast as he could.

"As a dad, I want to be there, to fix it, to take care of her," he said.

When he got there and no officers had arrived and his fear turned to anger. He lashed out when an officer did arrive.

"’I came all the way, 10 miles away, and I beat you here, how can that happen?’ I was angry," Randy said.

It happened May 19th and Randy has spent the last two months, trying to get answers, from police and 911. He toured the center, listened to the call and was told officers arrived within four minutes of getting dispatched.

7/10/2014 Related Story: Councilors Wonder Why 911 Hold Times Are Rising In Tulsa

The lag time was at the call center because they are understaffed and underfunded. Randy believes that is unacceptable.

"When your wife, your daughter, your loved one is on the other end, how do you put a dollar amount on saving their life," Randy asked.

Sally said she understands why it happened, but also knows in those few minutes she could've been raped, kidnapped or killed.

"When you call, you want them to be there, you don't care if they're underfunded. At the time, you just want someone there," she said.

According to 911 they have fewer staff now than in 2005. They said their budget's been cut because city sales tax are down and the fee on people's home phone bills designated for 911 is drying up because fewer people have home phone lines.

They said if you're calling for fire and EMSA, they are fully staffed and calls are answered quickly, but Tulsa is far below the national standard when it comes to answering police calls within the recommended 10 seconds.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

July 10th, 2014

March 14th, 2024

December 4th, 2023

September 25th, 2023

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024