WEST ALLIS — Last month, TMJ4 News reported on Hamza Alkarady's experience calling 911 while visiting Milwaukee. It's an experience he described as traumatizing.
He said after alerting dispatchers of his location, Dash Camera video from his car showed him circling a Milwaukee intersection for nearly seven minutes while being chased by an unknown driver at gunpoint.
After waiting for the police, Hamza feared that the police were not on the way, so he decided to head to the freeway to try and escape the driver chasing him. That's when his 911 call with the City of Milwaukee was transferred to Milwaukee County.
TMJ4 News has obtained a portion of that 911 call. In the call, you hear Hamza update dispatchers on his location six times in less than 3 minutes. Hamza said he was chased from Downtown Milwaukee to West Bend before losing the other driver and was transferred from one jurisdiction to the next but never said police were responding to his 911 call.
TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins is part of TMJ4's new special reporting team, Lighthouse. To shine the light on Hamza's concerns, Jenkins took Hamza's story and that 911 call to former West Allis Police Chief Chuck Padgett. He's not connected to the case but offers his perspective.
"The best thing to do is what he did. Get on the phone, tell them, describe the person, describe the other car if you can get the plate number its always a good thing to do," said Padgett.
Padgett said for someone who is not from the area, Hamza did what he was supposed to do.
"There is obvious confusion here," he said.
The former Police Chief points out that 911 calls spanning multiple jurisdictions are challenging. He says it's key that critical information is passed along, even amid the panic.
Chuck Padgett: "When Milwaukee transferred it, they said he was being chased but I didn't hear anything about a gun," Padgett said.
Ryan Jenkins: "That seems like a critical bit of information."
Chuck Padgett: "Yeah, that's highly critical. Like I said, not only for his safety but for officers that are responding too and anybody else, whether there's a weapon involved, and I didn't hear that anywhere. So, whether he said it to Milwaukee when he first called and they just didn't say it when they transferred it over, I don't know because I didn't hear it, but clearly in the video that we saw the guy did have one in his hand and that's what's frightening him so much."
Jenkins has requested Hamza's 911 calls from each jurisdiction. Only Milwaukee County has sent records. Milwaukee Police tell Jenkins they're working on his request. We've also requested an interview to try and get Hamza some answers about what he felt was a lack of urgency from the police.
Ryan Jenkins: "We hear Hamza, six times, say his location on the interstate, and which exit he's passing, of course, he's panicking but, I clearly hear him state where he's at six times and it seems like the dispatchers are asking the same questions - phone number and location - is there anything else they could've said to lead him to safety faster?
Chuck Padgett: "The only thing they could've done, if they would think of it because they're confused at the time they don't know whats going on, but if they knew anywhere he could go off to, a police department in the area,"
As for the person seen on video threatening Hamza with a gun, it's unclear if they were ever caught. Hamza said police never followed up with him after his 911 call. It's a concern echoed by Padgett.
"I would want that video if that happened in West Allis when I was working," said Padgett. "We want to hold that person accountable for what they did was clearly wrong and obviously a problem so there should be follow-up to it, yeah."
If you have a news tip or a story you'd like investigated, you can contact Ryan Jenkins at Ryan.Jenkins@TMJ4.com
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