911 callers report theft aboard bus, denied help by dispatch
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SEATTLE -- Bus riders called for help as a teenager was being attacked aboard a bus.
But dispatch refused to send a deputy. Investigators claim the callers were unclear.
Trouble broke out as the Route 128 Metro bus headed to Seattle from South 122th Street and Military Road. Four large men surrounded 14-year-old Dafarus Coleman and began commenting on his jacket.
"The suspect asked (the victim), 'What's up with your Northface (jacket)' numerous times," said the police report. The victim did not respond until the man said, "Give me your jacket," the report said.
When the teen refused, the man "grabbed his jacket, pushed (the victim) back on to the seat, stole the jacket, and ran off the bus," according to the report. Three others also ran off the bus.
During the incident, Coleman saw one woman dial her cell phone.
"She was calling. I heard her talking to people," he said. "She was telling them that a kid's getting robbed on the bus, and she was crying."
That caller is Kat Gray. She called 911 to report the incident, but she didn't get any help. KOMO News obtained recordings of the 911 calls.
911 dispatcher: "911, what are you reporting?
Gray: "I'm reporting a theft and robbery on a bus."
...
911 dispatcher: "OK, well, we cannot take a report if we do not have a victim."
As the bus moved along, Gray told the dispatcher the crime was happening in front of her eyes. But the dispatcher told her he wouldn't send a deputy.
911 dispatcher:"You cannot report a theft that did not occur to you. The person who the items were stolen from has to report this."
Gray said she was shocked.
"When you somebody being robbed in front of you, you shouldn't be denying a 911 call because they're not the victim," she said. "I mean, what? The victim's supposed to have a cell phone and say, 'Oh, I'm being robbed right now."'
Another bus rider also called in the robbery, but he, too, was told a deputy would not be sent.
Gray then contacted Metro Transit's dispatch to get a hold of Seattle police. A Seattle officer was then sent, even though the bus was in the county's jurisdiction.
"I was clear about it being 8 and 102 (SW)," Gray told investigators, referring to 8th Avenue SW and SW 102nd Street.
Both Gray and Coleman said the issue is not with the deputies, but the dispatcher who was supposed to get them there.
"It feels bad. There needs to be a better justice system," said Coleman.
"I am disgusted with their reactions," Gray said.
A King County sheriff's spokesman blames the mix up on the callers being unclear about what they were reporting.
But dispatch refused to send a deputy. Investigators claim the callers were unclear.
Trouble broke out as the Route 128 Metro bus headed to Seattle from South 122th Street and Military Road. Four large men surrounded 14-year-old Dafarus Coleman and began commenting on his jacket.
"The suspect asked (the victim), 'What's up with your Northface (jacket)' numerous times," said the police report. The victim did not respond until the man said, "Give me your jacket," the report said.
When the teen refused, the man "grabbed his jacket, pushed (the victim) back on to the seat, stole the jacket, and ran off the bus," according to the report. Three others also ran off the bus.
During the incident, Coleman saw one woman dial her cell phone.
"She was calling. I heard her talking to people," he said. "She was telling them that a kid's getting robbed on the bus, and she was crying."
That caller is Kat Gray. She called 911 to report the incident, but she didn't get any help. KOMO News obtained recordings of the 911 calls.
911 dispatcher: "911, what are you reporting?
Gray: "I'm reporting a theft and robbery on a bus."
...
911 dispatcher: "OK, well, we cannot take a report if we do not have a victim."
As the bus moved along, Gray told the dispatcher the crime was happening in front of her eyes. But the dispatcher told her he wouldn't send a deputy.
911 dispatcher:"You cannot report a theft that did not occur to you. The person who the items were stolen from has to report this."
Gray said she was shocked.
"When you somebody being robbed in front of you, you shouldn't be denying a 911 call because they're not the victim," she said. "I mean, what? The victim's supposed to have a cell phone and say, 'Oh, I'm being robbed right now."'
Another bus rider also called in the robbery, but he, too, was told a deputy would not be sent.
Gray then contacted Metro Transit's dispatch to get a hold of Seattle police. A Seattle officer was then sent, even though the bus was in the county's jurisdiction.
"I was clear about it being 8 and 102 (SW)," Gray told investigators, referring to 8th Avenue SW and SW 102nd Street.
Both Gray and Coleman said the issue is not with the deputies, but the dispatcher who was supposed to get them there.
"It feels bad. There needs to be a better justice system," said Coleman.
"I am disgusted with their reactions," Gray said.
A King County sheriff's spokesman blames the mix up on the callers being unclear about what they were reporting.
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