FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – A North Carolina woman allegedly locked in the trunk of a moving car by her boyfriend was saved by a quick-thinking 911 dispatcher and a lowly flip phone, ABC News reports.
Nicholas Mattevi (Fayetteville Police Department)
The 29-year-old woman called 911 around 4am Jan. 14. The woman had gotten in a fight with her boyfriend, who was “jealous,” according to WRAL.
Before dispatcher Tim Medlin could get much information from the woman, the call was dropped. He was unable to get her to answer when he called back.
Then Medlin remembered a flip phone the 911 communications center keeps around in case the phone lines go down, WTVD reports. He says texting was the only way he could think to contact her without getting “her in trouble.” The woman texted Medlin back, letting the dispatcher know she was in a red Mustang headed toward Fayetteville.
Verizon provided the location of the woman’s phone, and police stopped her and her boyfriend, Nicholas Mattevi, in Fayetteville. Mattevi, 32, was arrested and charged with false imprisonment.
“I can go to bed,” Medlin recalls feeling upon hearing of the arrest. “We’ve done our job.” He says he’s planning to buy a smartphone for the office to replace the old flip phone and make it easier to text if there’s a next time.
Medlin’s boss tells ABC the dispatcher “really stood by our motto: Failure is not an option.” (This 911 dispatcher was accused of hanging up on callers.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: Woman Locked in Trunk of Car Saved by Old Flip Phone
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