Police said they are investigating the 911 call made when a Chinese food delivery woman was murdered in Waterbury.
"Telecommunicator Nicole Scarino has been placed on administrative leave from her civilian position pending the outcome of a police internal affairs investigation regarding her conduct during a 911 call that involved a murder," Waterbury police said on Thursday.
Helena Vargas, who delivered food for a Chinese restaurant, was killed and her male coworker was injured during a robbery on Linden Street Tuesday night
Four people attacked and robbed the victims, leaving the 59-year-old woman with a gunshot wound in her neck, according to police.
Days after the murder, residents have been signing a petition to get the Waterbury "dispatcher" fired because of how she handled the 911 call with Vargas' coworker.
The petition said that the Scarino , who police said is a complaint clerk, not a dispatcher, "grossly" misunderstood the caller's "linguistic inabilities while under the duress of a life and death matter."
During the phone call, it appears that the caller is struggling to communicate in English to Scarino.
Local
The following is a portion of the recording:
Clerk: 70 Linden Street? Seven, zero Linden Street?
Driver: No, no, no 70. Number 70.
Clerk: 70 is seven, zero, that’s what 70 is, seven and a zero
Driver: Yeah, yeah, right away. They rob me and they shot the girl with me.
Clerk: What happened?
The call ends when officers arrive and Scarino is heard saying, “I don’t care what you’re driving I want to know what the people who shot the lady are driving. Oh, they got behind the house. They came from behind the house? The officers are there. You might as well talk to them now. Thank you.”
