Friday, March 19, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Man had to call police repeatedly

Effort to alert authorities to sniper suspect causes sheriff to re-examine policies

CONRAD MALSOM TRYING TO GET THROUGH "I believe I spoke to you earlier. I saw the Ohio beltway sniper in the Stardust today. I have now found the car which he's driving." OPERATOR "That would be dispatch. Hold on." Conrad Malsom tried for hours to alert Las Vegas police dispatchers that he had seen Charles McCoy Jr., the Ohio sniper suspect.

Sheriff Bill Young said Thursday he will review emergency-dispatch policies after the man who tracked down the Ohio sniper suspect had to place about one dozen calls before officers responded.

"Most citizens would have gotten fed up and hung up in disgust," Young said.

On Thursday, Las Vegas police released copies of the tapes at the request of the Review-Journal.

On the tapes, a determined Conrad Malsom can be heard beseeching 311 and 911 operators to send officers to apprehend highway sniper suspect Charles McCoy Jr.

"This is most important. I've been turned down by 911 because this is not life-threatening. I'm parked next to the Ohio beltway murderer. The shooter, the sniper's car here in Las Vegas," Malsom said in a call placed at 11:35 p.m. Tuesday.

"Mmm-hmm," the operator replied.

"Don't transfer my call, please," Malsom said.

Though dispatchers transferred Malsom's calls to a recording, or to the department's 311 nonemergency line, or to a different police division, the dispatchers followed established policies, Young said.

"Maybe we need to rethink our policies. This was truly an emergency, but it was an exception to the rule," Young said. "We usually don't have citizens out tracking down fugitives."

McCoy, 28, was wanted in sniper shootings that terrorized Ohio motorists and left one woman dead.

Las Vegas police and a multi-jurisdictional, fugitive-hunting task force arrested him about 2:45 a.m. Wednesday at a Budget Suites motel, near the Stardust.

Police credited Malsom, 60, who mounted his own investigation after recognizing McCoy on Tuesday afternoon. Late Tuesday, Malsom found the suspect's car parked at the Budget Suites and summoned police.

Over and over and over again.

"I believe I spoke to you earlier," he told one operator at 11:24 p.m. Tuesday. "I saw the Ohio beltway sniper in the Stardust today. I have now found the car which he's driving."

"That would be dispatch. Hold on," the operator replied.

Malsom first spotted McCoy shortly after noon Tuesday in offering the suspect some leftover pizza at the Stardust sports book.

Malsom kept an eye on McCoy, and about 1:45 p.m. he contacted Ohio authorities. They told him his was one of dozens of tips they had received from as far away as the Northeast and Florida.

Malsom called Las Vegas police at about the same time. A detective responded and patrolled the Stardust but did not find McCoy, police said.

About 4 p.m., Malsom went to the Las Vegas FBI office. He left about 6 p.m. and went to a friend's house in Southern Highlands to research the sniper case online.

About 8 p.m., Malsom went looking for McCoy at the GameWorks arcade on the Strip. Malsom had read online that the suspect had told his family he was going to a GameWorks arcade.

Malsom next returned to the Stardust to look for McCoy or his vehicle, whose license plate he had memorized. Before heading home about 10 p.m., he cruised through the nearby Budget Suites and found McCoy's green Chevrolet Metro.

Malsom went to a post office next to the motel and used his cell phone to call 911 at 10:35 p.m. His last 911 call was placed at 12:55 a.m. Wednesday.

Malsom was unavailable for comment Thursday.

On Wednesday, he refused to criticize law-enforcement officials in Las Vegas and Ohio for not responding more quickly to his information.

All Malsom would say about police dispatchers was, "You are talked to bluntly and then you get a tape."

The 911 dispatch system is designed to take calls that are a matter of life and death, and all other calls should be referred to the nonemergency number, Young said.

Citizens who engage dispatchers in conversations are transferred to free the 911 lines for genuine emergencies, Young said.

He said Malsom's frustrating experience in part was because of the extraordinary nature of his emergency.

"This was a very unique case and a very out-of-the-ordinary case," Young said.

Young, who took office in January 2003, pledged in his election campaign to increase the number of 911 dispatchers and improve the emergency-dispatch system.

About 60 percent to 70 percent of 911 calls were being answered in 10 seconds or less when Young took office. The national standard is for 90 percent of emergency calls to be answered in 10 seconds or less.

The department achieved that goal by summer after Young authorized overtime pay for call-takers and placed injured officers at the dispatch center to help them.

Young said that the department's emergency dispatch system worked Wednesday because police caught McCoy.

But Young said the department does not want to discourage citizens who want to help fight crime.

"When citizens want to help us, I don't want anything in our system to frustrate or deter them," Young said.