When a domestic dispute turned violent last week between her mother and a man wanted by police, the victim's daughter knew she had to somehow call for help without alerting the suspect.
So she picked up the phone and pretended to order a pizza.
In reality, she had called police.
“I would like to order a pizza,” the woman told 911 dispatcher Tim Teneyck of the Oregon Police Department in Ohio.
A recording of the Nov. 13 call is circulating widely on social media.
“This is the wrong number to call for pizza,” Teneyck replied, thinking the caller had dialed the wrong number.
“No, no, no ... you’re not understanding,” the voice on the other line said desperately.
That’s when Teneyck realized it was a call for help.
“I’m getting it now,” he tells the woman.
“Is the other guy still there?”
“Yes, I need a large pizza,” the woman replies.
"You see it on Facebook, but it's not something that anybody has ever been trained for. We're just trained to listen. Other dispatchers that I've talked to would not have picked up on this." — 911 dispatcher Tim Teneyck
Teneyck quickly dispatched officers to the woman's apartment.
There, police arrested 56-year-old Simon Lopez without incident and charged him with misdemeanor domestic violence. There was a warrant out for his arrest for failure to appear, according to reports.
Police reports say Lopez came home last Wednesday drunk and argumentative. The victim accused Lopez of punching her in the arm and causing her to fall into a wall.
Lopez has denied the allegations, police records show. He remains locked up in the Lucas County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
A judge has issued a temporary protection order.
“You see it on Facebook, but it’s not something that anybody has ever been trained for. We’re just trained to listen,” Teneyck told local news media. “Other dispatchers that I’ve talked to would not have picked up on this.”
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