ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 911 operator is under investigation for lecturing a kidnapping victim who was later found slain.
While operator Alan Ballard was on the phone with victim Loyta Stoley, he told her, "You are making us do a lot of work that we don't need to be doing," a tape of the 911 call reveals.
Eyewitness News has learned that the operator tried to find out where the victim was by asking her kidnapper.
The ordeal began the morning of Jan. 27, when police say Loyta Stoley was abducted and eventually taken to the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in downtown Orlando. Stoley's worried supervisor called 911. The operator later made a three-way call connecting Stoley's father and Stoley on her cell phone.
However, police didn't get on the case until a half hour after the 911 call and the victim ended up dead. Police found the woman four hours later. Officers said they found the woman dead, as well as her kidnaper, both from gunshot wounds.
911 operator Alan Ballard is under an internal affairs investigation by the Orlando Police Department for the way he handled several calls for help.
At 9:46am January 27, OPD 911 call handler Alan Ballard did a three-party call, connecting Loyta Sloley's concerned father, who was at home, to her cell phone, even though Ballard had already been told during the first 30 seconds of the first 911 call, made by Sloley's work supervisor, that she was being held against her will.
The following is what Ballard said to Sloley when he finally got her on her cell phone more than an hour and a half later.
911 operator: "Okay, we are under the impression that you are being held against your will."
Loyta: "Yes."
911 operator: "Okay, you need to talk to me straight up. Are you being held against your will?"
Loyta: "Yes."
By this time Loyta and her captor had checked into room 548 at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel downtown. Ballard tried to keep her on the phone, but she kept telling him that she had to go.
Instead of picking up on her cues and the stress in her voice, the way Sloley's supervisor and her father had, 911 operator Ballard started berating her.
"We're going to be launching a major search for you and you could be charged with all that expense if you don't cooperate with me ... You need to tell me where you are and not hang up this phone or you are going to be in some serious trouble ... We need to look for you just like we looked for that little girl who was missing. If you hang up you are creating a whole lot of work for a lot of people," the 911 operator told her.
Almost 11 minutes into the call with the victim, her alleged captor, James Clayton, got on the phone with the 911 operator and Ballard told him to stay put and say where he was so police could find them.
"We have launched a major search," the 911 operator told Clayton.
Even though 911 operator Alan Ballard has been on the job for nine years, he waited almost an hour before he sent police to talk to Sloley's supervisor.
Ballard was still being paid to answer calls Monday. Police won't talk and he can't talk about the incident until the investigation is complete.
Investigators said Clayton had 16 prior felony arrests with three convictions, including a conviction for murder in 1989.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
