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LISBON, Conn. – A state trooper was suspended for 15 days without pay after he was recorded on a 911 (search) tape saying “too bad” to a caller seeking help for a man injured in a motorcycle accident.
State police said the dismissive answer by Trooper Robert Peasley (search) did not affect the response time to the accident involving Justin Sawyer, 21, who died of a severe head injury a week after the crash last August. Peasley was suspended on Monday.
Russell Shepard, a friend of Sawyer’s, called 911, which was routed to the state police barracks in Montville (search). When he reported the accident, Peasley said, “Yeah … too bad,” and hung up, according to a tape obtained by WTNH-TV.
Shepard said he was shocked, believing he reached a wrong number.
Another friend made a second call. “Yeah,” the officer responded. “Help will get there. Shouldn’t be playing games.”
A third emergency call was answered by a different dispatcher, who asked about Sawyer’s condition and advised those nearby to not touch him.
“I am absolutely outraged every time I hear that `too bad’ and then click,” said Sawyer’s father, Jim Sawyer. “I only know that I would have felt a whole lot more comfortable if I had heard people responding on the end of that 911 call with some heart and caring.”
State police said the comments by Peasley, an 18-year-veteran, were unprofessional, and the agency apologized if “our actions added to the family’s pain.”