911 call surfaces in Denver delayed-response murder case
DENVER -- CBS Denver has obtained a 911 call in the 2012 case of a Denver woman who was found fatally beaten by her husband more than six hours after a neighbor first called dispatchers.
The family of 44-year-old Loretta Barela alleges in a federal lawsuit filed last November that she might have survived if responders had arrived earlier. The suit "a pattern of inadequate 911 dispatching."
It took more than an hour for dispatchers to send officers to the home of Barela, after her neighbor called 911 on Nov. 18, 2012. The neighbor, who told dispatchers she saw a man hitting a shirtless Barela and dragging her across the street, called a second time when police had not arrived 45 minutes later.
"It's been like 45 minutes and I'm really worried because like he, they came to the house, she pounded on the door and he drug her from my steps to her house," the neighbor says, according to the station.
"No we haven't forgot about you, but it's been extremely busy tonight and we will have couple officers to head out there and check on them," the dispatcher responded, according to the station.
At 3:07 a.m. police finally arrived -- one hour and 11 minutes after the first call for help, reports CBS Denver. Officers left when there was no response to a knock on her door.
But after investigating, the family in the lawsuit claims the only other incidents in that police district were a robbery and two traffic accidents, reports the paper.
Police found Barela's body after her husband, Christopher Perea, called 911 to say he had killed her. Perea was later convicted of her murder.
The lawsuit alleges Denver police place a low priority on domestic violence calls.