CASEYVILLE, Ill. -- When police got a call to respond to an armed robbery in progress late Monday, they drove past the convenience store where a man just held a gun on a clerk and went a mile down the road to a closed discount store.
A St. Clair County Emergency Telephone System Board dispatcher sent officers to the wrong business -- the Dollar General, 720 S. Main St., which was already closed for the night, police said. Police needed to go to Huck's, 8795 Sasak Place, where an armed man escaped with a bag of money.
Officer Steve Epps said Thursday the dispatcher told him to go to the correct street address but reported the armed robbery was at Dollar General. Epps said he then reconfirmed that the robbery was at Dollar General and the dispatcher said it was there.
Caseyville and Fairview Heights police, St. Clair County sheriff's deputies and a police dog searched around the Dollar General before the dispatcher corrected the address and sent them back to the Huck's, according to the police report.
By then, the robber had at least a six-minute head start. He is still at large.
"I haven't seen anything on this yet," said St. Clair County Emergency Telephone System Board Executive Director Bill Gamblin. "We will review it."
It wasn't clear Thursday whether the error was human or computer.
The county plans to upgrade its emergency dispatch system. Questions arose about the proposed system after a Maryland county discontinued its use because firefighters were being dispatched to the wrong communities, according to reports.
Gamblin stated the county is not yet using the new system.
Last year, Caseyville opted to discontinue handling its own emergency calls in an attempt to save money. The village now contracts with the county to dispatch its emergency police and fire calls.
"Years ago, I was against making that change," said former Police Chief Ron Tamburello, a current village trustee who heads the police committee. "I wanted dispatchers who were familiar with the area -- then we wouldn't have this problem. When we had our own dispatchers, I never had a bad call."
A man wearing a blue hoodie, camouflage pants and blue ski mask walked into the Huck's about 11 p.m. Monday, pointed a black revolver at the female clerk and demanded cash from the register and the safe in the floor, the police report stated. He then fled. The suspect is described as a black male, 5 feet, 10 inches to 6 feet tall with a slim build.
Anyone with information regarding the armed robbery is asked to call Caseyville police at 234-2151.
Contact reporter Beth Hundsdorfer at [email protected] or 239-2570.
Copyright 2011 - Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
