ANTIOCH (STMW) — Two public safety dispatchers, Charisce Anderson and Kim Winandy, have been recognized by village officials for their quick response to an armed robbery in Lake Villa.
“Dispatchers don’t get nearly enough credit for what they do. Police officers get all the credit, but none of it would happen without the dispatchers taking the calls. They are the unsung heroes of emergency services,” said Police Chief James Foerster.
Antioch Police Cmdr. David Jensen said the quick response to a call Jan. 23 reporting a robbery at the Circle K Quick Mart at Grand Avenue and Route 83 resulted in the apprehension of two suspects who fled in their vehicle to Lindenhurst.
From the call at 7:03 p.m. it was only 4-and-a-half minutes later when the getaway vehicle crashed and arrests were made.
“They did a great job. Two dispatchers work together. One receives the phone call while the other works in tandem to pass information from the first dispatcher, who is gathering information, to the officers. All of this happened in 90 seconds,” said Jensen.
The Antioch dispatch center answers 9-1-1 calls for Antioch, Lake Villa and Lindenhurst emergency services, so the information they gathered went out to patrol officers in all three villages at the same time. Information included a description of the vehicle used by the offender, who was described in detail to the officers. The dispatchers were able to verbally point the officers in the direction of the fleeing vehicle, eastbound on Grand Avenue driving toward Lindenhurst, said Jensen.
Within 4-and-a-half minutes from the time the call was received, the driver, Robert Hubbard, 42, of Fox Lake crashed his vehicle east of Taco Bell in Lindenhurst. A second suspect and passenger in the vehicle, Christopher Patterson, 40, allegedly had walked into the service station and pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money.
“That is getting it done,” Jensen said.
Lake Villa Police Chief Ron Roth said it is difficult to catch a suspect fleeing a crime scene because a full description is so crucial and dispatchers who are able to get a full description out within seconds can make or break an arrest.
“In this case information went out so fast that Lindenhurst officers were alerted even before the suspect reached their area,” Roth said.
“If it were not for the dispatchers they may have gotten away,” said Roth. “This was a really good piece of work by those dispatchers, and they are never praised or given a pat on the back, and they are on the front line.
“It’s a tough job,” he said. “It is one of the toughest jobs out there. It is so stressful and hard. Antioch has a real good crew, and they are responsible for the safety of about 60,000 residents in Lake Villa, Lindenhurst and Antioch as well as the unincorporated areas.”
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
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