By Stephanie Czekalinski, The Columbus Dispatch
Original publication date: March 31, 2011

Franklin County, Ohio —  A dispatcher with the Franklin County sheriff’s office has been disciplined for the way he handled a 911 call regarding a car crash in which two teenagers were killed on the Far West Side.

The 911 call was received by the dispatcher at the sheriff’s office first, although the crash was in an area handled by Columbus police, said Sgt. Rich Weiner, a police spokesman.

Dispatcher Jonathan Goodrich should have called the fire department, but instead he alerted police, said Lt. Karen Cotner, the sheriff’s radio-room supervisor.

“That’s protocol,” Cotner said. “In injury crashes, EMS should have been dispatched first.”

Goodrich, a dispatcher for almost three years, did not contact the fire department.

He received a letter of reprimand.

Micah Hawkins, 18, and his girlfriend, Brooke Thompson, 18, died in the crash on Feb. 20 on Johnson Road east of Smartweed Drive near Bolton Field . Their car veered off the left side of the road and struck a tree.

A passing motorist spotted the wreckage and called 911 about 5:15 a.m.

Goodrich notified Columbus police immediately. But it appears that the initial call for help was miscoded by city police when transferred from the sheriff’s office to the city 911 system. It wasn’t until 6:28 a.m. that officers responded, Weiner said.

A police dispatcher notified the fire department at 6:40 a.m., and EMS arrived at 6:54 a.m.

Columbus police still are investigating how its dispatcher handled the 911 call, Weiner said.

It’s impossible to know whether the teens might have survived had the call been handled differently, Cotner said.

About the Author
Contact Stephanie Czekalinski at [email protected].

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