A woman who watched a man get beaten up in downtown Denver had to make four calls to 911 operators over more than 30 minutes before paramedics were dispatched.
Four 911 operators received written reprimands after the head of the Denver 911 office ruled the operators did not dispatch paramedics properly during the calls.
“I absolutely am concerned in this situation. We not only let down the caller, we let down the victim,” said Carl Simpson, Denver’s 911 director.
The incident happened Aug. 17 at 16th and Stout streets.
“I called so many times because I didn’t want this guy to die,” Logan Schlosser said of her multiple 911 calls.
After having dinner and shopping downtown, Schlosser and a friend started walking back to her car.
“We turned the corner, and this guy was getting jumped and was having his head slammed against the ground,” Schlosser said.
“It was pretty bad,” she said.
Schlosser grabbed her phone and called 911 at 9:47 p.m. “I saw him get kicked and punched,” Schlosser told the 911 operator on the call. “He’s actually walking, but he can barely stand up.”
“I just know he needs help,” she said on the phone.
The 911 operator entered the call for service, but mistakenly told police officers the call occurred at 15th and Stout instead of where Schlosser was at 16th and Stout streets.
The injured man staggered along downtown streets. Schlosser followed him.
Schlosser waited 11 minutes and called Denver 911 again from Arapahoe and 14th streets.
“He can barely stand up,” Schlosser said on her second call.
Officers by then were chasing suspects but still had not found the victim. Schlosser made her third phone call to Denver 911 at 10:08 p.m. from Speer Boulevard and Lawrence Street.
“Right now, he’s just lying down,” she said on the phone.
Schlosser waited 10 more minutes and called a final time at 10:18 p.m.
“This is the fourth time I’ve called about somebody being jumped, and cops still have not showed up,” she said.
The fourth 911 operator did something none of the others had done — she dispatched paramedics.
An ambulance arrived on the scene three minutes and 14 seconds later, according to 911 call data.
The man was taken by ambulance to Denver Health Medical Center. He was treated but not admitted, according to Simpson.
Simpson said the call takers should have worked to dispatch paramedics much sooner.
“This call got off on the wrong foot, and it just never got better,” he said.
