2-Hour Delay in Response to 911 Call Investigated

Los Angeles police officials Thursday were investigating what was apparently a nearly two-hour delay in responding to a 911 call from a Brentwood restaurant manager who was reporting the robbery of a customer.

Although the manager of the Hamburger Hamlet on San Vicente Boulevard maintains that he called 911 three times--including one call during the Wednesday night robbery--officers were not notified and dispatched to the restaurant until almost two hours later, long after the robber had fled with the victim’s watch, reportedly worth $8,000.

Lt. Ron Hall, detective commander at the West Los Angeles Division, admitted that a faster response might have resulted in the arrest of the robber, who was briefly detained by other restaurant customers after the robbery.

“We’re trying to determine how many calls were made, what the subject of each call was and why there was not a sooner response,” said Cmdr. William Booth, LAPD spokesman. He added that investigators are combing through phone records and interviewing police detectives to find out what happened.

“It certainly appears that the call we responded to was not the first call,” he said.