Questions About Dispatcher Sleeping, Investigation

Officials in Warren County (Ohio) now say that a county dispatcher was most likely not deeply asleep when he fielded a 911 call in Aug. 2008 from a man who said his wife had drowned in a bathtub. But officials cannot say definitely if Ron Kronenberger was dozing off just before the call came in, and can’t explain why Kronenberger sounds dazed and confused during the call. The caller, Ryan Widmer, was later charged with murdering his wife, and the 911 call has become part of the evidence against him. His first trial ended in jury misconduct, and now he faces a second trial. The allegations of Kronenberger sleeping arose only recently after a report on the call was made public by a local newspaper. The report included statements from fellow dispatchers that Kronenberger had been sleeping earlier in the shift. The report took county commissioners by surprise, and prompted the resignation (pdf) of county emergency management director Frank Young two days after the report was made public. He was a county employee for 20 years. But in response, county officials say Kronenberger handled two other 911 calls in the minutes before Widmer called. They say it’s unlikely that he was completely asleep between those calls, and Widmer’s call four minutes later. The district attorney says the situation won’t affect the 911 evidence or the re-trial. At least one county commissioner said they would install video cameras in the comm center to monitor dispatchers. Read more about the situation and listen to the 911 call here.