2-Hour Delay in 911 Response Investigated

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 suspect had fled with the victim’s watch, which reportedly was worth $8,000.

Lt. Ron Hall, commanding officer of detectives at LAPD’s 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 Los Angeles Police Cmdr. William Booth, who 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.”

Police officials did not wish to speculate on what may have caused the delay although police Sgt. Rick Walker suggested that information typed into the 911 computer by the dispatcher who took the initial call may have been accidentally erased.

Usually, a 911 dispatcher receives a call at the Police Department’s Communications Division, inputs information from the caller into a computer and requests a unit response either by radio or through the computer, according to officials.

The incident began about 7:15 p.m. The robbery victim, Juran Miklas, 41, had agreed to meet the suspect at the restaurant after the suspect, responding to a newspaper ad, expressed interest in buying Miklas’ watch.

After Miklas gave the suspect the watch so that he could get a closer look at it, Hall said, “the suspect stuck a stun gun in the face of the victim. ... He apparently hit him with it too, causing him to fall out of his chair and hit the floor.”

At least two customers grabbed the suspect, and the manager said he quickly dialed 911 and told them he needed police help.

The suspect was able to break free within the next few minutes and fled, along with the woman who had accompanied him. Thirty minutes later, police still had not arrived.

“I called 911 again, was put on hold and then disconnected,” the manager said. “I called again and was put on hold for five minutes, then I said, ‘The hell with this. I’m calling the West Los Angeles Police Department.”’

Police received a call at 8:52, and officers arrived at the restaurant shortly after 9 p.m., Walker said.

Miklas was treated at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center for cuts to his face and right hand and released.