Around the Neighborhood
Welfare · WilliamsvilleThe Nine-Year-Old Walking to School Alone, Because Her Parents Wouldn't Drive Her
An Amherst PD officer parks his cruiser, takes a child by the hand into Sweet Home Middle, and goes to have a word with the parents.
The first real call of the day on Amherst PD came at 8:17 a.m., when a unit radioed from the parking area at 4150 Maple Road that he was "looking for a nine-year-old female, Black, hair up, pink backpack" walking the road alone. "I think she's too young to be walking alone,"[1] he told dispatch. Six minutes later the explanation landed: "She missed the school bus and her parents won't drive her to school, so she's been walking here. I'm going to give her a ride to school and follow up with the parents."[2]
By 8:35 the officer was asking for an ETA at Maplemere from a second car: "If you just want to pull up, I can walk the child into the school and make contact with the parents."[3] Closed soft, the way these things mostly do. A quiet bit of public service, done at no charge, in a brief that otherwise spends a lot of its column inches on misheard radio chatter.
Custody dispute · Sheridan Drive"He's Going to Walk to Angola" — a Fourteen-Year-Old, His Parents, and a Thirty-Mile Plan
At 8:50 a.m. Amherst PD took a quarterly call up Sheridan Drive on a 14-year-old male inside, "in the middle of a custody dispute with their parents, and he's upset and he's going to walk to Angola."[4] Description for the be-on-the-lookout: "White male, red hair, long gray sleeve t-shirts, black pants or shirts." Angola, for the record, is about thirty road miles from Sheridan Drive. The call cleared without further radio traffic; we hope a ride was arranged.
Medical · ClarenceCardiac Call to Corvettes & Performance on Sheridan Drive — Seventy-Three-Year-Old, Diaphoretic
At 10:38 a.m. Amherst Fire dispatch paged East Amherst EMS — the channel hears it as "5-8-9-5" — to Corvettes and Performance between Laurel Park Lane and Clarence Center Road for "a 73-year-old male, cardiac history, diaphoretic and…"[5] Volunteer 240 picked it up "responding from Maple and Transit."[6] No upgrade in the window; the patient appears to have moved on the line.
Medical · ClarenceAnother Fall at Sisters of St. Joseph Residence, 4975 Strickler Road
Clarence EMS picked up an 11:55 a.m. page back to the Sisters of St. Joseph Residence at 4975 Strickler Road — "downstairs lobby for another female that fell with a head injury,"[7] the dispatcher said, the word "another" doing real work. The same patient resurfaced at 1:55 p.m. on Amherst Fire as a brief-loss-of-consciousness follow-up.[8]
Crime in Progress · AmherstTall Man "Took Her Bank Card Out of the ATM" at Speedway, 1810 Maple Road
At 2:08 p.m. Amherst PD pushed cars to Speedway, 1810 Maple Road, on a complaint that "a male just took her bank card out of the ATM." Per the complainant: "tall Black male, appeared to be under the influence, unknown where he went."[9] Cover unit responded ("That's Walton cover"[10]); no traffic indicating the male was located before the window closed.
Medical · AmherstFulton Senior Living on Transit Road — A Quiet Page From Amherst Fire
At 1:30 p.m. Amherst Fire dispatched a response to 6363 Transit Road, Fulton Senior Living, between Woodbridge Lane and Old Post Road West.[11] Routine senior-living medical; closed without escalation on the channel.
Welfare check · Amherst"Two Fences… the Property Backs Up to the Park School"
A 9:05 a.m. Amherst PD welfare check generated one of the morning's better fragments: "Two fences. The property backs up to the park school. I'm going to go over and see what I can see from that side."[12] The radio went quiet immediately after, the way it does when the officer has eyes on what he needed to see.
Overheard: The Wires
Daily Gem"I Have the Turtle"
The line of the day arrived from an Amherst PD unit at 9:42 a.m., unprompted, as if mid-conversation with himself: "I have the turtle. I'm waiting for a call back from the SPCA to see if I should just leave it here, relocate it. So leave it open for now, I guess."[13] Three sentences. A complete short story. Cover art pending. The turtle's status as of press time remains under review by an SPCA representative who has not returned the unit's call.
"There's a Fog Stuck in the Backyard. Mom's Outside."
From 228 Burroughs at 8:19 a.m., delivered to Amherst PD with the calm of a person reporting genuinely strange weather: "There's a fog stuck in the backyard. Mom's outside the backyard."[14] The dispatcher acknowledged ("10-4, I'll head over there as soon as I'm done with Sturbridge"[15]) and the channel moved on. No clarification was ever offered about whether the trapped fog was canine, atmospheric, or hallucinatory.
BuffaloLimo Driver Delivers a 3:45 P.M. Soliloquy on the John Deere 20-Horse
The BuffaloLimo channel — which by every linguistic indication is a parcel-and-mulch outfit rather than a limousine company — aired at 1:45 p.m. one of the more honest broadcasts in scanner history. "I can't wait to be on that fucking John Deere, striping the lawn, in about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Dog off to the side, taking a shit."[16] A colleague replied, three minutes later, the way colleagues do: "Oh, it's a John Deere. Yeah, them are nice. They're nice. They're fantastic."[17] Forwarded, on instinct, to the John Deere marketing department.
Embassy Suites Shuttle Control Asks the Question Burning in Everyone's Mind
At 1:04 p.m. on the Niagara Region trunk, Embassy Control sent a guest to Ramada with a polite "okay, can you send him out to the parking lot, please? There's a bus there." A colleague keyed back, exasperated: "That fucking law you mean, or?"[18] The reply ended the exchange: "That's okay, I'll go mind GAC. The bus is leaving." Hotel shuttle dispatch, doing the lord's work, in language unfit for a hotel lobby.
"Buffalo Sewer Authority — Walnut From Sycamore to Genesee Will Be Closed Until 1600 Hours"
At 9:53 a.m. BFD Ch 1 dispatch fired one of those administrative announcements that sounds in passing like the opening of a Cold War communique. "Attention all companies, per Buffalo 1. Correction, per Buffalo Sewer Authority. Walnut from Sycamore to Genesee will be closed until 1600 hours. No vehicles can get through."[19] Sycamore-to-Genesee tonight, then. Plan accordingly.
Delta Ramp Has Lost Track of Dave's Bags Again
BNIA Delta Ramp ran the morning's best mini-procedural at 10:05 a.m. "They canceled the tag and then rerouted on his flight. That's the only two tags on her name, so I don't know if her bags are on the plate or not. I do not have any of those bags down here now, Dave."[20] Dave, wherever you are, your bags are not.
"Hockey Sticks Could Make It to Dallas Any Sooner, You Know"
Earlier on the same Delta Ramp channel, at 7:39 a.m., a ramper was apparently arguing with a passenger or a coworker (the radio doesn't always specify) over a connection. "Hockey sticks could make it to Dallas any sooner, you know, they're about to give me a headache that is… to Fort Worth, different of the past."[21] An unusable sentence, beautifully delivered.
BroadwayTaxi Has Spotted the Cops on Broadway and Wants You to Know
At 2:06 p.m. on the Taxis trunk: "5-0, 5-0 and 100 block of Broadway."[22] One driver, two breaths, a small public service. Forty seconds later: "Roebling."[23]
"It's Time To… Transform"
BuffaloLimo, again, in two transmissions spaced exactly seven seconds apart at 2:18 p.m.: "It's time to…" pause. "Transform."[24] Optimus Prime, if you are out there with a TPS shuttle franchise, the listening audience is ready.
Larkin Building Security Asks an Officer to Detain a Woman With "Like, Indian Hair"
The Larkin Building's in-house security channel turned a corner at 1:14 p.m. when the radio asked Mike to "get over to Hydraulics Street, and, uh, stop and detain her. Um, short, dark hair, type of, like, Indian hair." A beat later: "There's no disruption. She's, you know, you'll see her. And then Mike's going to get a hold of Josh about a stay-away order."[25] A model of restraint-by-Larkin standards, anyway.
Regional Blotter
Possible Fentanyl Overdose on Lower River Road, Lewiston — One Narcan Administered
Niagara County FD Dispatch toned Lewiston 1 at 8:10 a.m. to Annapurna Drive and Lower River Road for a 27-year-old male, "possible overdose on fentanyl. One Narcan given at this time. ALS priority."[26] Repeat went out at 430 Dutton Drive.[27]
Hamburg FD: Two Patients, Possible Crash in Front of BJ's Gas Station, 4366 Mile Strip Road
At 12:28 p.m. Town of Hamburg FD took an auto accident "in front of BJ's gas station, 4366 Milestrip Road" — one 77-year-old male reported, two patients on follow-up, one with "malar body pain."[28]
NYSEG High-Tension Lines Down in South-Eastern Erie County
S-E Fire Control to dispatch at 2:29 p.m.: "If you can get a hold of NYSEG, they got high tension lines down. They're not in the roads, but they are down."[29] A second East Concord call ran on Mercy at the same time.[30] Utility responding; no road closures reported.
Buffalo Fire Working an Interior Stretch on Ch.2 Fireground
From shortly after 11 a.m., BFD Ch.2 fireground sustained twenty minutes of dense traffic — "fourth line going to the second floor, being taken in by Company 33," Truck 5 pulling on the second floor, command working a "fire extension" question through Erie County Fire.[31][32][33] Address not stated on the open channel during the window; likely a working fire that stayed contained to the building.
NYSTA Ch.4 Working an Erratic Black Sedan, Airbags Deployed at Guide Rail Near Exit 52
At 12:24 p.m. State Police on Thruway Ch.4 worked "multiple calls, but different locations for the black sedan that was erratic" — located near Exit 52 with "guide rail, left shoulder, with airbags deployed."[34]
Lancaster FD: Bicyclist Struck on Broadway at Mechanic Street, Alden — No Injury
Lancaster Fire Central repeated the Alden EMS page at 2:15 p.m.: "Broadway at Mechanic Street for a bicyclist struck, reporting no injury."[35]
Other Calls of Note
[08:23] Buffalo Fire (BFD Ch.1) dispatching for an MVA on the Buffalo Authority bus with four passengers; chief asks for one ambulance home, manageable on companies.
[10:28] Amherst PD takes a panic alarm from a lock box at 580 Crosspoint, City Group offices — covered, false alarm.
[10:44] T-Hamburg FD dispatches Woodlawn 9 to 133 Miller Avenue, Bladesville, for an audible detector activation called in by a neighbor.
[11:39] Amherst Fire to Ledge Lane West between Brightwood Road and Ledge Lane West — 75-year-old female, difficulty breathing.
[11:55] Amherst Fire takes a second call to "Bruegger's Bagels."
[12:14] T-Hamburg FD dispatches a weak-to-cold response to 5362 Scranton Road, between Grant and Electric.
[12:35] Amherst PD: minor PDO at 811 Maple, the eye care center — "two people backed into each other, didn't see each other."
[12:45] Niagara County FD: "Party in a wheelchair, stuck on the ramp, unable to move, no injury" — Blue Heron between Pine Lake and the dead end.
[13:01] Buffalo Fire EMS to 181 Ellicott Street, between North Division and Eagle, in the bus terminal lobby — ill person, shortness of breath.
[13:38] Buffalo Fire EMS Engine 36 to 601 Amherst Street at Bridgman and Elmwood.
[14:08] Amherst PD: minor MVA reported on Wehrle Drive corridor; vehicle-meets-phone, driver clears with the device back in hand.
[14:51] T-Hamburg FD: fire alarm activation at 8890 Feddick Road in North Boston — coming from the hallway and kitchen heat detector. One engine each from Apache and Boston, North Boston.
[14:58] East Aurora FD: cleaning personnel locate a female, "response of unknown downtime. She's breathing with difficulty. Erie County EMS was notified" — between Reading and Falls.