A 91-year-old woman in Westlake, Ohio, is safe after a police welfare check Thursday night revealed she had simply been too absorbed in trying to beat her high score on a bubble pop video game to answer her phone.
The event unfolded around 6 p.m. April 9 when the city’s “Are You Okay?” program failed to receive a response from the senior during her daily automated check-in call. Dispatchers followed up with a direct call to her phone with no success, then contacted her daughter. When the daughter said her mother should have been home, officers from the Westlake Police Department were dispatched to the residence.
With no answer at the front door, police used a pre-provided garage door code to enter the home safely. Body camera footage captured an officer telling dispatch, “We’re with her now. She’s playing video games in her bedroom.” Officers quickly located the woman in her bedroom, unharmed and focused on the popular bubble pop-style puzzle game as she tried to set a new personal record.
Westlake Police Capt. Jerry Vogel said the woman was grateful officers checked on her, and everyone involved shared a laugh once they realized there was no emergency.
The voluntary “Are You Okay?” program, run by the Westlake Police Department and Community Services Department, helps ensure the well-being of seniors living independently by sending officers when automated daily calls go unanswered..
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The event unfolded around 6 p.m. April 9 when the city’s “Are You Okay?” program failed to receive a response from the senior during her daily automated check-in call.
The event unfolded around 6 p.m. April 9 when the city’s “Are You Okay?” program failed to receive a response from the senior during her daily automated check-in call.
