Florida’s Pasco County is apparently having a little problem with its 911 dispatch service, as evidenced by a recorded call during a home invasion in Port Richey last week. According to Fox 13 Tampa Bay, four armed men broke into a home and demanded money and prescription medications from a man, his wife and her mother. The intruders reportedly assaulted all three of the occupants before leaving, at which point the man called 911 to report the crime. However, as the dispatcher was trying to transfer him from the fire department to the police, he was sent to voicemail instead. And that’s when the intruders returned.
In the man’s 911 call, you can hear the automated recording in the background as he shouts at the intruders, telling him that he’ll shoot at them again if they don’t leave. That’s when dispatcher got back on the line to learn that the man had indeed shot one of the intruders. Fox 13 reported that the police claimed their response time wasn’t hampered by the mistake, and three of the four men have been arrested.