Police Use Cellphone, Siren To Locate Hurt, Confused Man
Posted July 9, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It took a little ingenuity, but with the help of a cell phone and a police siren officers managed to find the person they were looking for.
It all started with a 911 call Monday morning. The man on the line told Toronto cops that he was badly hurt, unable to move, and not sure where he was. Authorities managed to track the call to the Spadina Ave. area, but that still represented a lot of ground to cover and a lot of possible places the confused man could be.
That’s when they came up with a plan. A patrol car from the 14 Division Major Crime unit scoured the area with its siren on, while the dispatcher listened to the background noise on the cell phone call. Eventually the siren could be heard over the phone and the dispatcher helped lead the car to the individual in need. It was on McCaul St. that he was eventually found. According to police he had suffered a possible broken back and a broken leg.
“He was incapacitated, lying in an area that we have no idea other than the general area at this point. Our officer, Const. Aaron Dennis, got the assistance of another police vehicle with a siren, activated the siren and drove up Spadina Ave., and instructed through our communications operator when this fellow heard the siren to tell her that he did,” explained Det. Sgt. John Loughlin. “The car was stopped. We narrowed down the area even further and then went in searching through the back roads and backyards. From there, (we) eventually found this guy lying helpless in a backyard over near McCaul.”
It’s believed he injured himself in a fall from a nearby building.
