Secret Phone Call To Police Saves Ashburnham Woman From Alleged Domestic Attack
ASHBURNHAM (CBS) --- The woman wasn't able to talk into the phone but dispatchers in Ashburnham heard her talking in the background.
That was enough to send officers to the home to make sure everything was OK.
Dispatcher Stephanie Asbury answered the unrecorded business line Sunday morning when she heard what sounded like a domestic dispute.
"I stayed silent so whoever was with her, didn't hear me," Asbury said.
As Asbury collected the caller-ID information, Lt. Rob Siano began listening in.
Siano heard the woman address her attacker as "Lincoln."
Police say Lincoln Stiles Sr. is known to police so they knew to go to his estranged wife's home on Pleasant Street.
That's where they found the woman battered and bound with handcuffs.
According to police, Stiles had slammed the woman's head into a wall, punched her, tried to choke her and pushed her down the stairs.
The woman later told police that as Stiles barged into the home, she called police and slid her cell phone into her pocket.
"It was good the victim was able to use a name I was familiar with," Siano said.
Police Chief Loring Barrett, Jr. said he's just happy the department is not investigating a homicide.
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