On
my way home yesterday evening at about 8:35, I saw a little boy (maybe about
3 yrs old) walking up 3rd street alone in his stocking feet. I called
911 and notified the police. The 911 dispatcher took asked me for a description of the child and my location, yada, yada. The child turned up 2nd st and continued to walk
while I followed him in the car until I got to my house, then I got out and tried to persuade him to sit with me on the porch steps and have a drink or a snack. He would have none of that and took off up 2nd street again. I followed him to be sure he didn't get hurt or anything. There were a couple of other neighbors keeping track of us as well. I let my husband know that if the police came to the door, that the boy and I were on the move and they could contact my cell phone. The little boy
continued to walk up the street, crossing the street at the circle and
at Craigmont (never looking for traffic, thank goodness traffic was almost non-existent at that time) then heading up the hill. I was really having trouble
keeping up, he was moving really fast and I could not convince him to slow down or hold my hand or come back towards my house with me. I could not get him to talk to me either. He just kept saying 'walk'. At the corner of 1st street and Craigmont, he walked up to a house and tried to go
in. I was hopeful that this was his house and my problems were over. When he rattled the front door knob (which he could barely reach), the people who lived there 1st looked out the window then finally came to the door. He did not belong to
him. They called 911 too. The young man of the house was able to grab and hold the boy though, so at least we were stationery; although the boy wanted down and wiggled and squirmed trying to get away. I was glad it was not me trying to hold on to him.
I made my 911 call at 8:35. When I looked at my watch while the boy was being held by the young neighbor, it was 8:52. About 5-10 minutes after I checked the time, the police finally showed up and
said the mom (actually was the grandma) was on the way. She was very distraught and said that she had inadvertently left the garage door open and the boy had slipped out. She did not acknowledge all the people who had helped keep her grandson safe, but left with the boy and the policeman, presumably to go home.
20 minutes????
for a report of a small child wandering the streets alone. It takes me less than 20
minutes to drive all the way across town from Longview to Lotawana, why
did it take them so long??? I was, to say the least, disappointed in the response time of the police. At the same time, I was very pleased that my neighbors were all concerned and participated in protecting this child. At least the child is safe now.
I wrote this account down to help me remember all the details. My memory isn't what it used to be, and I thought there should be a record of this somewhere. As I look back on my actions, I think maybe I should have dragged the boy (even if he was kicking and screaming) into my house, or at least to the front porch, to be sure he was safe until the police got here.
