Quick-thinking call taker Pippa Harvey has been commended for her swift action during a 999 call where a woman, fearing for her life, pretended to order a pizza. Recognizing the distress in the caller’s voice, Harvey quickly assessed the situation with strategically posed yes-or-no questions, cleverly using pizza toppings to gauge the threat level. Harvey sent police to the woman’s location while advising her to hang up to avoid alerting the perpetrator. This incident highlights the importance of quick recognition in emergencies. Similar events have occurred, demonstrating the effectiveness of discreet communication in dangerous situations.
Quick-thinking call takers have been praised after a woman, fearing for her life, was able to communicate with police officers after calling 999 “to order a pizza”.
At the beginning of the call, the woman asked to order pizza, but Pippa Harvey knew something was wrong.
Harvey asked immediately after the caller started talking about pizza. “Do you need pizza delivered or do you need the police?” If it’s the police, I’ll say yes. ”
When the frightened woman on the phone answered yes and confirmed that police were needed, the operator sent an officer and attempted to continue the action.
Harvey asked a series of yes-or-no questions to decipher what was happening on the other end of the phone, including whether the perpetrator or the weapon was on the premises.
Continuing the ruse, the handler asked: If he threatens to hurt you, give me the pepperoni. If he threatens to hurt the kids, tell him cheese. ”
While she answered the troubled phone with “pepperoni,” she could hear children crying in the background.
Believing the caller’s police were on their way to her home, Harvey told the woman she needed to hang up so the man wouldn’t suspect her of calling.
Pippa Harvey has been commended by the Metropolitan Police for using her wits to save a woman who called asking for “pizza”.
Despite the food order, the call person quickly determined that something was wrong and immediately asked the woman if she was being threatened or in danger.
“If you need to call 999 back, please stay in another room for a while, okay?” The police will be here soon,” she added.
‘[She] “He recognized the disguise and took voluntary action to ensure the woman received the assistance she needed,” the Metropolitan Police Department said.
Mr. Harvey’s honorable work attracted attention and he was later awarded a certificate of commendation.
The Metropolitan Police Department said Harvey had only started the job several months before he directed the woman over the phone.
She has since been praised by the Women’s Charity, saying: “What a fantastic job this call handler, Pippa Harvey, has done.”
“I hope this woman and her children are okay.
It comes after another caller was praised for a similar approach when a York woman called 999 asking for pizza.
The woman, who was on a bus in York Region at the time, contacted emergency services and ordered a takeaway before secretly answering a yes-or-no question from a North Yorkshire Police officer in 2022.
Rather than hang up or assume it was a prank call, the handler immediately asked the woman if she was in trouble, and the woman replied that she was.
Her location was then determined using tracking data and a 40-year-old man from Leeds was arrested and detained in connection with the incident.
Elsewhere, an illegal immigrant was allegedly caught sexually assaulting a woman in a field in Florida, and was arrested after the victim reported the same tactic to police.
“I’d like to order a pizza,” the victim told a dispatcher in a harrowing emergency call obtained by DailyMail.com.
‘Understood. Are you aware that you are calling 911? ” the dispatcher answered, and the woman immediately replied, “ “Yes, I’m calling that number.” I’m trying to buy pizza. ”
When the dispatcher asked for the address of an emergency contact, the woman desperately begged, “Please tell me you know where I am.” She added: “I’m stuck here. He won’t take me home.”
Later, the Metropolitan Police commended Mr. Harvey for a phone call he made just a few months after taking the job.
The Women’s Charity also praised her quick action in trying to help the woman over the phone.
This isn’t the first time a call handler has been praised for his resourcefulness after receiving a call that looks like a pizza order (File image)
West Yorkshire Police revealed in 2022 that a woman on a bus in York contacted emergency services to order a pizza after an incident occurred on board.
Volusia County sheriff’s deputies used her cell phone’s location services to track her location to the middle of a field in Pearson, a rural town north of Orlando.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Luis Diego Hernandez-Monkey, 27, lying on top of a crying woman. The suspect had applied for asylum the day before the incident, but was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and sexual assault.
The woman called 911 around 4 a.m. on Oct. 19 after Hernandez Monkey allegedly took her to the scene.
When authorities tracked her whereabouts, they managed to determine that the victim was alone with the suspect and that the suspect was unarmed.
“Do you know his name?” the dispatcher asked, but she refused.
The dispatcher then asked the woman for her name, to which she replied, “I’d like to order an extra cheese pizza.”
“Are you hurt?” the 911 operator asked. The victim answered, “Yes,” in a tearful voice.
“Just leave it there, okay?” We’ll help you right away,” the dispatcher said.
Deputies were dispatched to Pearson and were searching the area on foot when they heard loud music coming from a field.
Luis Diego Hernandez-Monkey, 27 (pictured), was arrested and charged in October 2024 with attempted sexual assault, assault by strangulation, and false imprisonment.
The victim told police that she knew Hernandez-Monkey before the attack and that he attacked her after taking cocaine, the sheriff’s office said. This photo shows officers grabbing him, slamming him to the ground, and arresting him.
The woman cried out, “Thank you, Lord!” When the cops took Hernandez Monkey away.
As they approached, they saw Hernandez-Monkey on top of the screaming victim.
“He’s trying to rape me, can you help me?” Body camera footage released by police showed the woman screaming.
The officers ordered Hernandez-Monkey to “get down now,” then grabbed him, pushed him to the ground, handcuffed him and told him, “Stop, damn it, don’t move.”
The woman cried out, “Thank you, Lord!” Deputies rushed to help
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the victim told police she knew Hernandez-Monkey before the attack, but that he attacked her after taking cocaine.
