EAST POINT, Ga. — An East Point homeowner said he called 911 because he suspected someone was trying to break into his home; however, dispatchers sent officers to the wrong address.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Mario Boone said he was at work 40 miles away from his home when he got an alert from his security cameras.
When he looked, he saw two men he didn’t know looking in his windows and trying to get into his home.
He immediately called the police and asked for someone to check on his property.
“Within a few minutes, the officer called saying ‘Hey, I’m at so and so address, and we don’t see anybody,’” Boone said.
Boone realized officers had gone to the wrong address.
“Seconds matter when you’re talking about a burglar trying to get into your house,” Boone said.
TRENDING STORIES:
- 4 Georgia soldiers have died after being reported missing in Lithuania
- Metro Atlanta nurse says she worked three 12-hour shifts before deadly crash
- Worker who died after fall from 19th floor wasn’t wearing a helmet or harness
A call log from the incident shows the dispatcher put down the wrong street address. When Channel 2′s Eryn Rogers drove Sylvan Road in East Point, she found out the address cops were originally sent to did not exist.
“I need dispatchers to send the cops to the right location so that I’m safe, my home is safe, and that didn’t happen in this situation, so I’m disappointed,” Boone said.
It is protocol for 911 dispatchers to verify an address with the caller on the line.
Boone said the time it took to correct the mistake mattered.
“It took them long enough that the people who were trying to get in the house were able to get away,” Boone said.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
He told Rogers the East Point police chief as well as the 911 communications manager reached out to him acknowledging a mistake was made.
“A dispatcher did not follow procedure, and they were going to take immediate steps to correct it, so I do want to thank East Point police for owning it,” Boone said.
Rogers reached out to East Point police several times, but they did not respond. The communications manager told her he wasn’t authorized to comment.
©2025 Cox Media Group
