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Review Of 911 Call From Car Trunk Almost Complete
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Published: December 17, 2008
Not long before she was killed, Jennifer Johnson made a 911 call from the trunk of her own car as it traveled along Interstate 4 through Plant City.
The call hit a cell tower in Thonotosassa and bounced to a dispatcher in Plant City. The call was around 30 seconds long, but because Johnson didn't name her abductor or describe her car, it was nearly impossible to find her, Plant City police say.
Now the Plant City Police Department is in the final stages of its own internal review of how dispatchers and supervisors handled the 911 call. Johnson's body was discovered in an abandoned Lakeland home off I-4 on Nov. 18. She was last seen alive at the home of Vincent Brown, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her 2-year-old daughter, in the early morning hours of Nov. 15th.
"I don't feel good about the whole situation, as Ms. Johnson has since perished, "said Capt. Darrell Wilson, who supervises the 911 dispatch center at the Plant City Police Department. "We try to do the best we can with as much information as possible."
Plant City police said they responded to the 911 call within 10 minutes of its receipt, around 5:30 a.m. Public records requested by News Channel 8 and The Tampa Tribune show a Plant City police officer was dispatched to the call at 5:38 a.m. as part of a "security check" response.
Wilson said what concerns him the most is whether the 911 operator tried to get much information as possible as well as notify all appropriate supervisors. Wilson was unsure whether other law enforcement agencies in the area were contacted about the situation; that question should be answered during the ongoing review.
It's also possible there was not enough information to pass along, he said.
"We really didn't have much to go on. Of course she said she was in the trunk, she said she didn't know where she was, no names, then the phone call disconnected," Wilson said.
He said the information available to the dispatcher after the 911 call was made included the caller's phone number, the service provider, and a general six-mile radius of the cell tower where the call originated. The patrol unit searched a four-mile radius of I-4 near the Thonotosassa cell tower. Plant City police did not contact the registered user of the cell phone but gave the information to Tampa police when they requested it several days later.
Wilson said the review was ordered by Plant City Police Chief Bill McDaniel. The review is expected to be complete within the next week or so.
Tampa police have named Brown a suspect in Johnson's death. Brown is now in jail in Lake Butler on unrelated charges and has not been charged in connection with Johnson's death. Tampa police spokesperson Andrea Davis said detectives are waiting for lab results from physical evidence to make an arrest in the case.
News Channel 8 reporter Samara Sodos can be reached at (813) 314-5379.
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