Wrentham Police: Dispatcher 'Forgot' To Send Cruiser Minutes Before Dragging Death

WRENTHAM (CBS) --- Police Lt. William McGrath says he can only conclude the dispatcher 'forgot' to send a cruiser to a call for help that ended in a woman's horrific death.

According to a police report released Tuesday, nine minutes passed between the original call for help from the Arbor Inn Motel and a 911 call reporting motel housekeeper Kanchanbin Patel was hit by a car and being dragged down Route 1.

"I can only conclude that she (the dispatcher) forgot and that's what she indicated during our interview," McGrath told WBZ-TV.

In the report, police say there's no way of knowing whether a sooner police response would have saved Patel's life.

"There is no way for us to determine if sending a cruiser immediately after the first call from the Arbor Inn would have changed the outcome and we are deeply saddened such a tragedy occurred at all. We extend our sincere sympathies to Mr. Patel, his family and friends," the report states.

Police state the initial call came from the motel's owner over the department's business line, not the 911 emergency line. During the call the owner asks for police to come due to a dispute over an unpaid bill.

The dispatcher told the man she would send a cruiser however, Wrentham Police say that never happened.

WBZ-TV obtained the call logs from the night. Absent from the logs is that original call to police.

Wrentham Police state in the report, non-emergency calls are entered manually into the log by the dispatcher.

"Considering the dispatcher did not send a cruiser it stands to reason she would not have entered the call into the police log," the report states.

When a 911 call came into police at 10:02 p.m., from someone along Route 1 who witnessed the woman being dragged, police were dispatched promptly, the report says.

The second call from the Arbor Inn came in on the 911 emergency line at 10:05 p.m. reporting Patel had been struck by a vehicle and dragged away.

Police that were dispatched to the 911 call from the first 911 call on Route 1 were already on the scene.

Wrentham Police say the dispatcher who took the calls will remain on administrative leave until the internal review is completed.