Cheektowaga · Walden Avenue · Vehicle Pursuit

A Cheektowaga Stop Turns Into an 80-mph Flight Over the Median and Through a Red Light

Officers moving in on a vehicle near Home Depot watched the driver bolt for Walden, miss the spike strips and bounce over the median before losing them toward the city.

Yesterday around 9:45 PM, Cheektowaga units were closing in on a vehicle east of Home Depot when the driver made his move. “Looks like he's trying to take off. He's coming out towards Walden, I think” an officer radioed — “He's driving like a nut”.

The driver “Missed the strips and went over the median” and headed westbound toward the city on Walden before turning north on Harlem, blowing through the light at McNaughton at about 80 mph with no lights on. State police were called out, but an officer soon reported “I really don't have eyes on him anymore. I think he went westbound Genesee”, and the chase was handed off toward Buffalo.

Chautauqua County · Route 5 · Vehicle Pursuit

An Overnight Dunkirk Pursuit Threads Half the County Before the Suspect Vehicle Simply Vanishes

Chautauqua units in a Tahoe couldn't keep pace with the fleeing sedan as it ran from Temple Road toward the Thruway.

Early this morning at about 1:31 AM, Dunkirk police had a pursuit westbound on Route 5, just passing Temple Road, chasing a light four-door sedan on a vehicle-and-traffic failure to comply. Units called out a partial plate as the car wound through town — “Turning on Willow, 5, 5, Bravo, November, potential plate”.

Assisting Chautauqua deputies conceded the limits of their equipment, advising “we're in a Tahoe and we cannot keep pace with this”. The sedan pressed on toward Buffalo on the 90, and the thruway was notified before the vehicle was ultimately lost.

↗ Related: same_incident

Town of Tonawanda · Paradise Lane · Suicidal Subject

A Father Tracks His Suicidal Son by Life360 as Tonawanda Police Close on a Parked Kia

The 24-year-old was threatening to kill himself in a gray Kia with his father in the car; by the time units arrived the son had started to drive.

Yesterday at 8:16 PM, Tonawanda dispatch sent a town medic and officers to 115 Paradise Lane for a 24-year-old male in a gray Kia in the lot “threatening to kill himself. He has no weapons. Father's with him” He had no weapons, and his father was with him.

The situation grew more urgent as it unfolded: dispatch relayed that “the father is texting the complainant, states that he believes the son is going to kill them both, and the male is now driving” Units were vectored to the moving vehicle as the mother stayed on the phone trying to pin down a location.

Salamanca · Sycamore Avenue · Death Investigation

Salamanca Police Open a Death Investigation on Sycamore Avenue After a Caller Reports His Son Has Died

The county sent Seneca EMS alongside officers to the Sycamore Avenue apartment where the call came in.

Yesterday at 10:38 PM, Salamanca police directed units to 14 Sycamore Avenue, apartment 1, where dispatch said “The caller called them saying their son just died”.

Seneca EMS and multiple units converged on the apartment, with dispatch confirming the location twice as officers arrived. The digest records the call as a death investigation handled jointly by EMS and police.

West Seneca · Mineral Springs · Hit-and-Run

A Hit-and-Run Driver Clips Two or Three Vehicles Near Mineral Springs and Takes Off North on Harlem

A second caller turned around and tailed the maroon vehicle long enough to get a plate as West Seneca pieced together conflicting accounts of which way it went.

Yesterday at 3:01 PM, West Seneca dispatch put out a hit-and-run near Clinton and Harlem by Mineral Springs: a maroon vehicle that “hit at least two vehicles, possibly a third at Mineral Springs”, last seen headed down Harlem toward West Niagara.

A second caller turned back toward the scene and supplied a plate; the registration came back to a Lorraine Place address in West Seneca, and Cheektowaga was notified. One complainant reported arm pain, making it an injury accident, and officers noted conflicting stories over whether the car had fled north or south as a building inspector was flagged for follow-up on a damaged house.

Cattaraugus County · Portville · Repeat Offender

A Donkey in the Portville Road Is Apparently Not a First-Time Offender

A deputy asked the question every rural dispatcher dreads having to answer.

Yesterday just after 9:00 PM, a Cattaraugus deputy headed to the southern end of Lily Bridge near Portville for a donkey standing in the roadway — and then, with the weariness of a lawman who has been here before, keyed up to ask dispatch the only question that mattered: “Do we have any previous incidents with this donkey?”

Hamburg · Fire Dispatch · Radio Manners

At the Switchboard of the Soul, a Hamburg Dispatcher Answers Like a Concierge

Routine EMS traffic, delivered with the courtliness of a front desk.

Yesterday at 4:50 PM, in the middle of an otherwise unremarkable string of EMS pages, a Hamburg fire dispatcher picked up the mic and greeted the night's traffic with a flourish that belonged in a hotel lobby: “I'm McFerris, how may I help you with the correspondence?” The correspondence, as it happened, was a medic run.

Cheektowaga · PD Dispatch · Sign-Off

Peace Be Upon You, and That's All, Folks

A Cheektowaga dispatcher opens with a blessing and closes with Porky Pig.

Yesterday at 6:19 PM, a Cheektowaga dispatcher managed to span the whole of radio etiquette in two breaths — a warm “Salam alaikum” followed a beat later by the most famous stutter-and-fade in animation, “That's all, folks”

Erie County · Countywide EMS · Old School

A County EMS Dispatcher Catches Himself Going Old School on the Air

Three or four years of restraint undone in a single transmission.

Yesterday at 10:24 PM, routing a hot run for an 80-year-old on Lewis Road, an Erie County EMS dispatcher slipped into an old radio habit and immediately owned up to it: “Sorry, I went old school there and called myself ADI” He warmed to the theme — “No school like old school” — before signing off with the night's best mission statement: “I haven't had to say that in like 3 or 4 years. Don't threaten me with a good time”

Chautauqua County · LE Dispatch · Benediction

A Late-Night Dispatcher Signs Off With an Accidental Benediction

Mid-pursuit, a Chautauqua voice offers something closer to a prayer.

Early this morning at about 1:34 AM, in the thick of the Route 5 pursuit, a Chautauqua dispatcher closed a transmission with a line that read less like radio procedure and more like a blessing offered into the dark: “Thank you for your time and may the light not be dark”

↗ Related: same_incident

Amherst · Getzville · Injury Crash

Two-Car Crash Near North French and East Robinson Sends Ellicott Creek Crews to Getzville

Yesterday at 11:08 PM, Ellicott Creek Fire Company was dispatched to a two-car injury crash near North French Road and East Robinson, close to Jim's Steakout in Getzville.

Apparatus 2952 and 2309 were on scene within minutes, and crews closed a lane of traffic while they worked the accident.

Tonawanda · Woodmere · Missing Juvenile

Tonawanda Father Reports 17-Year-Old Daughter Missing From Woodmere Home

Yesterday at 10:39 PM, Tonawanda Police sent a unit to a home on Woodmere after a father reported his 17-year-old daughter had left the house around 9:15 PM and he could not find her. Dispatchers described her as a Hispanic female carrying a pink blanket and a Disney backpack, with no further clothing description available.

Tonawanda · St. John's · Child Welfare

Father's Complaint Leads Tonawanda Police to Children Left Alone in Apartment Hallway

Yesterday at 9:31 PM, Tonawanda Police were sent to an apartment building on St. John's after a father waiting outside reported that, after he dropped his children off at their mother's house, the mother had in turn left them alone in the building's hallway. The radio traffic did not make clear the children's ages or how the call was resolved.

Buffalo · Clinton Street · Stabbing Report

Woman's Report of Stabbing Outside Clinton Street Address Turns Up No Victim

Yesterday at 11:36 PM, Buffalo Fire sent a rescue company and an EMS crew to 515 Clinton Street, between Gladys Homes and Jefferson, after a woman called to report she had been stabbed outside the building. Dispatchers flagged the call for caution, noting it was not known whether her attacker was still on scene, and requested Buffalo Police respond.

Officers walked the area around the building but found no victim, and by 11:41 PM the call was logged gone on arrival.

Buffalo · Low Pier Street · Gas Leak

Struck Gas Line Outside Low Pier Address Draws Sustained Buffalo Fire Response

At 5:11 PM, Buffalo Fire sent a still alarm — Engine 22, Ladder 14, F-40 and B-43 — to 165 Low Pier Street, between Stanislaus and Sycamore, after a report that a natural gas line had been struck outside the building.

Engine company 4-3 was added for the broken gas line minutes later and reported on location by 5:15 PM; the traffic described it only as an outside leak, with no fire reported on the air.

Buffalo · Sattler Avenue · Missing Teen

Buffalo Police Search for Missing Teen Elise Looper Amid Possible Overdose Concern

At 12:47 AM, Buffalo Police dispatchers sent an officer to 51 Sattler Avenue, first asking for a unit to locate a grandmother at the address who needed to be taken to Oishei Children's Hospital for a “possible overdose”. In the same transmission, dispatch said officers were also looking for a missing teen identified on the radio as Elise Looper, described as somewhere between 14 and 16 years old with a birth date of March 11, 2011; it was not clear from the traffic how the two were connected.

Cheektowaga · Cleveland Hill · Vehicle Into Tree

Car Strikes Tree on Lachlan with Children Aboard, Two Kids Hurt

Yesterday at 4:46 PM, Cheektowaga Fire dispatched Cleveland Hill companies to a vehicle that had struck a tree on Lachlan[*] [heard: Laughlin], on the west side between Elaine and Poole, with multiple people inside, including children. Rescue and additional ambulance crews were added within minutes.

By 4:49 PM, dispatch reported “I've got three patients, two children with head lacerations”, with Cleveland Hill 91 on location alongside police.

Cheektowaga · Sandstone Court · Missing Person

Text Threatening to Jump Off a Bridge Triggers Cheektowaga Search for Missing Man

Yesterday at 7:04 PM, Cheektowaga Police opened a missing-person search after a complainant at Sandstone Court Apartments, 1351 French Road, reported that a man last seen around 2 PM had texted that “he's gonna take his life, jump off the bridge”. Additional units were sent to help search the area.

Minutes later, dispatchers flagged a possible second missing-person report near Stiglmeier Park; it was not clear from the radio traffic whether the two were related.

Hamburg · Southwestern Boulevard · Disturbance

Tim Hortons Parking Lot Erupts in Shouting Match, About Ten People Involved

At 2:23 AM, Hamburg Police were sent to the Tim Hortons at 6550 Southwestern Boulevard for a disturbance after a caller reported two vehicles involved in a dispute in the parking lot and “approximately 10 people yelling”.

Units cleared the call about four minutes later, at 2:27 AM.

Batavia · Twin Industrial Park · Workplace Injury

Worker Struck in Head by Machinery at Angelica Healthcare Break Room

At 5:40 AM, Genesee County Fire dispatch sent Mercy Medic 1 to Angelica Healthcare at 3 Apollo Drive, near Twin Industrial Boulevard, for a 35-year-old man struck in the head by machinery in the facility's break room.

Cattaraugus County · Steam Valley Road · Shots Fired

Bullet Pierces Bay Window, Lands on Children's Toys in Cattaraugus County Shooting Scare

Yesterday at 6:44 PM, Cattaraugus County Sheriff's deputies were sent to 1212 Steam Valley Road after a caller reported someone had shot out the bay window at the front of her home. She told dispatchers she believed neighbors might have been shooting, and that the bullet had come to rest inside the residence atop her children's toys; she was advised not to touch it until patrol arrived.

By the time units cleared the scene, the call had been reclassified from a shooting complaint to a trespass.

Fredonia · Thruway Overpass · Welfare Check

Report of Man Leaning Over Thruway Overpass Rail Sends Units Racing Toward Fredonia

Yesterday at 11:23 PM, Chautauqua County dispatchers sent two units toward the Temple Road Thruway overpass to check the welfare of a white man dressed in black seen in the middle of the bridge, “leaning over the rail”; a third unit was asked to head that way as well. Dispatch said the caller was a Wisteria Drive resident who had driven past the man once, then passed again a little later and saw he had not moved.

Units found the man about ten minutes later but said he refused to speak with them and gave them no legal grounds to stop and hold him; he was last seen walking back toward the village of Fredonia.