911 calls show King County deputies failed to respond to DUI

As Joe Scott drove home towards Duvall on Labor Day, the car ahead of him caught his eye. Approaching Carnation on northbound Highway 203, he spotted a Ford Explorer speeding up and slowing down, swerving all over the road, narrowly missing other cars.

“It was like something you’d see on an episode of ‘Cops’ or something,” Scott said in an exclusive interview with KIRO Radio. “I mean, as stereotypical as you can imagine.”

Scott immediately called 911. He was transferred by a State Patrol dispatcher to King County. The dispatcher thanked him and indicated they would respond, according to 911 recordings obtained by KIRO Radio via a public disclosure request.

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Soon after, the woman pulled into a nearby parking lot, got out, and stumbled away, clearly intoxicated, according to Scott.

He called 911 again, and then a third time when she got back in the car and drove off.

At one point he saw a deputy drive by at regular speed without his lights flashing.

“There’s a sheriff right here … he’s driving by right now,” Scott is heard telling the dispatcher.

“OK sir, can you flag him down?” the dispatcher asks.

“I can’t, he’s already gone,” Scott responds.

Despite the dispatcher’s assurances he would contact the passing deputy, the deputy didn’t turn around, and the woman continued on.

A frustrated Scott can be heard making another call to 911 and informs the dispatcher he was following the woman, disregarding the dispatcher’s advice not to do so.

“The reason I don’t want you to follow her, sir, is if she gets in a car accident and you get injured, that would not be good,” the dispatcher calmly tells him.

But an angry Scott says if law enforcement isn’t willing to take any action, it’s not only his right but his obligation as a concerned citizen to follow the woman until a law enforcement can assist.

“It’s absurd that 911 tells you to not follow somebody who is clearly breaking the law if you’re willing to take the basic risk of following somebody, which is not really a big risk just to report where they are at,” Scott said.

At least an hour passed since his initial call, and Scott says the woman continued swerving all over, then turned onto a rural road where she ultimately drove into a dead end.

He pulled in behind her and blocked her car with his. She got out and began stumbling around. He called 911 again, where you can hear her shouting incoherently in the background.

In another recording obtained by KIRO Radio, a conversation is heard between King County and State Patrol dispatchers, in which it is clear State Patrol would have ultimately dispatched a trooper to assist but had been told King County would handle it.

“You guys are going to handle it right, I can just disregard his phone call, is that correct?” the State Patrol dispatcher asks. “Yeah, I’ll let him know,” the King County dispatcher responds.

The woman eventually wandered into the woods for a while, then emerged some time later. She got into an argument with Scott, demanding he give back her keys. But he says he had watched her put them in her pocket.

She then began yelling and accused him of rape, so he flagged down another driver to witness what was really going on, and called 911 again.

But more than 90 minutes and five calls later, no King County deputy had responded.

“Apparently King County doesn’t care about Duvall-Carnation area. I mean it’s absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

In the recording obtained by KIRO Radio, the dispatcher is heard staying on the phone for more than 27 minutes with Scott as they await a deputy.

The woman involved eventually ran off, ultimately getting a ride home and calling 911 herself, claiming Scott had accosted her.

In all, two hours had passed and cops never responded. An enraged Scott gave up and finally went home.

I reached out to the King County Sheriff’s Office for an explanation.

Spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West acknowledges it was unfortunate and frustrating for all.

But she says the department has only six deputies to patrol the unincorporated area running from Carnation to Issaquah, Redmond to Snoqualmie Pass. And because of budget constraints there just aren’t enough cops to go around.

“It’s not that common for us to not be able to handle one like this. But unfortunately it does happen,” West said.

And on that holiday evening, the two deputies handling the immediate area near Duvall were slammed with other calls.

“I’ve got actually six pages of incidents that occurred between that time, including another DUI that was fighting with an officer, an uncooperative subject that wanted to fight with an officer, burglary in progress and then a domestic violence,” West said.

An angry Scott questions why they didn’t simply ask another agency for help, including Duvall police or the State Patrol. Though it’s an option, King County prefers to handle its own assignments as much as possible, West said. But she insists in cases of extreme danger, they won’t hesitate to ask another agency for assistance.

So does that mean the King County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t care about DUI’s? West insists that’s farthest from the case.

But Scott isn’t so sure.

“When the cops let you down beyond all belief, it’s a joke,” Scott said. “It’s annoying because I love cops. They’re the people you want on your side 24/7. When they’re lazy and they get away with this crap, it’s not OK.”

A deputy did ultimately contact Scott via phone, but admitted there was nothing he could do at that point. And West says because no deputy observed the woman driving, there was no further action they could take.