ST. GEORGE — A silent 911 call to the Mesquite Emergency Dispatch Center in Nevada resulted in the rescue of a woman and her three children from an alleged kidnapper early Tuesday morning, after the woman called 911 and left an open line until she could ask for help, giving authorities time to gather location information and send officers to intercept the car and take the suspect into custody.
The incident was reported on Tuesday shortly before midnight PDT, when the Mesquite Police Department’s emergency dispatch received an open-line 911 call from a female in a moving vehicle. The line remained opened until the distressed caller was eventually able to quietly tell the 911 operator that she was inside of a vehicle and needed help, but was unable to provide any further details, according to the statement released by Mesquite Police Sgt. Wyatt Oliver on Wednesday.
Once emergency dispatch was able to narrow down the location of the caller, officers quickly responded to the area. A patrol unit located the suspect’s car and conducted a traffic stop. Police found a male driver, a woman sitting in the passenger seat and three children in the backseat.
Officers also noticed signs of possible criminal activity and the driver was detained while officers worked to determine the nature of the situation.
Through the course of the investigation, officers learned that the driver, a Nevada man who was identified as 34-year-old Justin Junius Carter, had reportedly attempted to stab the woman in Las Vegas, the city the suspect resided in.
When his attempts failed, the suspect forced the woman and the children into the vehicle at knifepoint.
Carter headed north on I-15. When they reached Mesquite, police say, the passenger was able to implement a plan to call 911 – efforts that resulted in emergency dispatch initially receiving the open-line call.
Carter was arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including one count of attempted murder, four second-degree felony counts of kidnapping in violation of an extended protection order. He was also charged with four felony counts of violation of an extended protection order, one felony count of attempted sexual assault and one felony count of coercion with use of a deadly weapon, as well as two counts of resisting arrest – each a misdemeanor.
The outcome prompted a commendation from Mesquite Police Chief MaQuade Chesley, who stated, “The bravery of this woman and her children cannot be overstated,” and he continued by saying they maintained their composure while the woman “bravely created a plan in her head to call for help as soon as she could”.
The chief also attributed the favorable outcome to the emergency dispatchers working that night that jumped into action without hesitation to locate and the officers who rescued these victims from such a terrifying experience.
“Their swift action and persistence to gather information from the 911 call saved this family from further harm,” Chesley said.
Carter was transported to the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas where he remains in custody. The incident is still under investigation and no further details were released.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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