FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) – An Arkansas police department has received more than 100 threats after a 911 dispatcher for the department scolded a frantic newspaper delivery woman for driving into floodwaters before she drowned.
Fort Smith police spokesman Aric Mitchell said Tuesday the threats over
the holiday weekend were made primarily to the city’s dispatch center from
out-of-state callers and aren’t considered credible.
He told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette calls and messages ranged from
vague insults to death threats.
In a 911 recording released last week, Debra Stevens was heard crying and
begging for help, saying she could not swim.
Dispatcher Donna Reneau at one point tried to comfort Stevens but also told her, “This will teach you next time don’t drive in the water.”
Reneau was working her final shift when she took the call Aug. 24 and is no longer employed by the department.
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