Ont. father says police failed his family after 911 calls went unanswered

An Orangeville man is calling for accountability from Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) after he says thieves armed with a gun broke into his home and left his family traumatized.

Theo Meadows says he called 911 five times during the incident, but no officers responded.

“This is where he held me down and a guy put the gun to my head,” Meadows told CTV News.

He says a group of burglars forced their way into his home at 5 a.m. on November 3, threatening him and his daughter.

“The guy that had the gun to me took it off of me and put it directly to my daughter’s head,” Meadows recalled. “The guy holding me down basically said, ‘Give us everything and she’s not going to get shot.”

Unanswered Calls

Meadows says he repeatedly tried to call 911, only to be put on hold.

Audio from one of the recorded calls captured the frustration: “Please remain on the line,” a dispatcher says before the line disconnects.

The OPP later traced one of Meadows' dropped calls to within 41 metres of his location, but he says no officers were sent.

Desperate, Meadows called his parents in Collingwood, who also experienced delays.

“They were put on hold for nine to 10 minutes. And then my mom was the one who got through to the OPP,” Meadows said.

The thieves made off with only a few silver chains. No one was physically hurt.

For Meadows, the emotional scars run deep.

“When the gun went to my daughter’s head, my whole body kind of stopped,” he said. “That was the most helpless moment of my entire life.”

OPP Response

In an email to CTV News, the OPP stated in part, “Unfortunately, in this situation, the caller hung up multiple times during this transfer before connecting with an OPP communicator. When this occurs, the communicator has the responsibility to follow up with the caller.

This process involves attempting to call back and text the caller, which can take several minutes to re-establish contact.

This takes the OPP communicator out of the rotation of answering live calls. When a member of the public hangs up on 911 and then calls back, their call is returned to the bottom of the queue. This results in a longer wait time for the individual.”

Investigators have not released any updates or descriptions of the six suspects involved in the alleged break-in.

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More than six weeks later, Meadows says he is still waiting for an explanation from police about why no help arrived.

“I was under the impression I’d call 911, put the phone down, and deal with whatever was coming, knowing someone would show up to save us. That wasn’t the case at all,” he added.

The statement from OPP continued, “The OPP recognizes there is a need for better public education on what to expect when calling 911 and why someone may be put on hold during that process. In the exceptional times that the public may find themselves on hold for a 911 response, the caller should stay on the line.”

“God forbid it happens to anybody else. But you need to be prepared just in case it does because in my situation we were failed,” Meadows concluded.