When a 911 dispatcher in Oregon connected to an incoming call, a woman on the other end of the line said she wanted a pizza.
But it didn’t take long before dispatcher Tim Teneyck realized the woman on the phone wasn’t really trying to place a food order: She was trying to discreetly get police help for her mother during a suspected domestic violence dispute.
In a 911 recording of the call, she connects with Mr. Teneyck and tells him she’s trying to order a pizza to be delivered to her apartment in Oregon. Mr. Teneyck’s confusion is evident as he tells her she has the wrong number, but after she sternly tells him “no, you’re not understanding,” it clicks.
“I’m getting it now,” he tells her, recognizing the call as domestic-violence related. “Is the other guy still there?”
“Yes, I need a large pizza,” she replies.
He tells her help is on the way before dispatching officers to respond to the apartment with lights and sirens. He warns them to go silent, though, when they get close, so as not to spook the suspect.
Police would arrest Simon Lopez, 56. He faces a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. At the time he had a warrant out for failure to appear.
Oregon Police Chief Michael Navarre said he is “extremely proud” of how Mr. Teneyck handled the call and plans to use it in training going forward.
“He picked up on a woman who was in distress, but was in a position where she couldn’t convey it to him in those words,” Chief Navarre said. “And then he was able to ask her all the right questions without putting her in harm’s way.”
The incident happened Nov. 13.
The victim, the mother of the woman who called 911, told police that Mr. Lopez arrived home intoxicated and started to argue with her. She said he punched her with a closed fist on her right arm and pushed her with enough force that she fell into a wall, according to a police report.
She described him as “disorderly, loud, verbally and physically abusive” and said he threatened to beat her.
Mr. Lopez denied the allegations, police records state.
A temporary protection order was granted in the case, and Mr. Lopez remains in the Lucas County jail on a $50,000 bond, records show.
In the dispatch center, Mr. Teneyck said he’s used to callers accidentally dialing 911 — even to order a pizza or complain that they received the wrong food order at Burger King.
“When you answer the 911 lines, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
But something in the woman’s voice made him listen closer.
“She did everything right,” he said.
He worries that exposure of the pizza ruse will begin to alert offenders as well, so he recommends that victims in danger can simply call and lay the phone down in a position where dispatchers can listen in and start help that way. Never hang up, if you can help it, he said.
“The best thing to do is just have an open phone line and say as much as you can — address and names — until we can figure it all out,” he said.
Chief Navarre also advises victims to develop a code word that they can share with friends and use in times of distress, if they’re unable to call police directly.
First Published November 20, 2019, 10:29 p.m.
