Police Officer, Dispatcher May Face Suspension
Posted: March 16, 2009 08:41 PM CDT
Murfreesboro Officer, Dispatcher Face Suspension
3:21
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - A police officer and an emergency dispatcher face suspension in Rutherford County after a bizarre mistake and claims of unprofessional conduct.
NewsChannel 5 reporter Nick Beres obtained police video and audio of the incident that all began with a prank 911 call.
The problem is police were dispatched to the wrong address. What happened next has become an embarrassment to the Murfreesboro Police Department.
Police rushed to a call for help at Campus Crossings apartment in Murfreesboro last month. The problem was that they went to the wrong apartment.
Police arrested Roger Chilton and his son Justin. The arrest came after a frightened Justin, a military police officer who just returned from Iraq, answered the door with a gun.
"I thought someone was breaking into the house. Nobody identified themselves," said Roger.
"We had some issues with the language and the behavior of one of our officers on the scene that night," said police spokesperson Kyle Evans.
Evans said Officer Carl Watts faces suspension for his conduct.
Watts could be heard during an audio recording of the incident yelling at Justin's pregnant girlfriend to get on the floor.
"Roll over on your back," he told her. After she said she was pregnant, she said Watts had no sympathy.
An official complaint quotes the officer as saying, "I don't give a ----. You've already ----- up your life by being a pregnant teenager."
Remember, this all happened after police were sent to the wrong address - a bad dispatcher mistake made worse by Officer Watts' conduct.
"A simple typo or computer entry can significantly change so many people's lives," said Evans.
As far as the police department is concerned, Evans said one mistake should not have led to the other.
"Unprofessional behavior on behalf of the police officers is never justified," said Evans.
The dispatcher, Desi' Thorpe, also faces suspension. Police supervisor Sgt. Mike Turner has been talked to about avoiding such situations in the future.
That's great for the future, but the Chilton's wonder about the past. Both still face criminal prosecution for answering the door and pointing a gun at an officer - some one they originally thought was an intruder.
The district attorney won't drop the resisting arrest and aggravated assault charges, even though police admit they went to the wrong home.
General Whitsell said that mistake alone does not clear the Chilton's of their conduct when the police arrived.
Murfreesboro police say such mix-ups on 911 calls are extremely rare, and the department is reviewing policies to make sure everything possible is being done to make sure such a mistake doesn't happen again.