Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Overturned Truck And Carjack Crime Spree Send 911 Dispatchers Into Overdrive
Chagrin Valley dispatchers stay cool as they “go from one crime to the next crime to the next crime.”
Dispatcher Appreciation Week comes once a year. It’s a time for staffers on the other side of 911 emergency calls to reflect on the work they do and the lives they help save, as well as to release some tension.
Emergency calls don’t stop during the week, as the team at the Cleveland-area Chagrin Valley Dispatch knows. Their jobs and sometimes wild experiences are showcased in the documentary series “911 Crisis Center,” airing Saturdays at 9/8c on Oxygen.
In a recent episode, a flurry of calls came into dispatchers after a potentially dangerous highway accident. “There’s a truck that’s turned over. Oh my goodness. I’m shaking,” one caller said. “A truck has turned over,” came another call. “It’s smoking.”
Chagrin Valley crew sprang into action, rallying help for the overturned semi. They gathered more information from callers to share with police and medical personnel responding to the emergency.
“Under the bridge that the semi is hanging off is another freeway with motorists passing right underneath,” said 911 dispatcher Arnold Rinas. “There's a possibility that this truck continues to shift and falls onto the freeway, making our worst case scenario even worse.”
Eventually, the truck was stabilized.
Another series of calls had the staff working together in tight-knit unison. a person reported that he noticed individuals trying to break into his car. As dispatchers were dealing with the situation, a store employee near the school called and said a bullet was fired through the shop window.
In short order, a call about a man being held up as he was taking money out of a bank ATM in the vicinity of the school came in.
“We’ve gone from one crime to the next crime to the next crime,” said a 911 dispatcher. “Everybody’s pulling everything together … comparing notes. We started to see these people were on a crime spree. They’re doing anything and everything.”
To learn more about what happened during these calls and Chagrin Valley Dispatch, watch “911 Crisis Center,” airing Saturdays at 9/8c on Oxygen or stream episodes here.
