11 Investigates Exclusive: Pittsburgh Police respond to armed robbery 2 hours later

PITTSBURGH — 11 Investigates has been looking into the circumstances surrounding an armed robbery at a beer store in the city of Pittsburgh.

It took police more than two hours to respond to the robbery.

Was it a failure of the 911 center, confusion over the way Pittsburgh police now respond to calls, or a combination of both?

Chief Investigator Rick Earle has been digging into all of this for the past two months.

Earle learned that not one, but two calls were made to 911, but didn’t arrived until more than two hours after the robbery.

Earle exclusively obtained surveillance video from the beer store on West Liberty Avenue.

It shows two masked men with a gun entering the store just before 6 p.m.

The put a gun to the clerk’s head and demand cash.

Moe Goraya owns the store.

“They put a gun right to his head, you know, brought him behind here and behind the counter, took the money and they were gone within a minute, 30 seconds out the door. They were wearing masks, fully masked, gloves and everything,” said Goraya, who indicated this is the first time his business was robbed.

A customer who walked in during the robbery immediately called 911, but Goraya couldn’t believe what they told him.

“They told him to come down to the police station and file a report,” said Goraya.

“They didn’t send an officer?” asked Earle.

“Nope, nobody came,” said Goraya.

“What was your response when you heard that,? replied Earle.

“Shocked. I was shocked.I was like ‘it’s a gun point robbery and nobody’s coming out,’” said Goraya.

About an hour later Goraya himself decided to call 911.

“I said I called earlier and it was a gun point robbery and nobody showed up. She goes, what do you mean? I say somebody called from the store and told you it was a gun point robbery and nobody showed up, and I was told to come down and file a report at the police station and she said wait a minute and put me on hold...then she said somebody will be out there,” said Goraya.

Police finally arrived more than two hours after the robbery that happened in Pittsburgh City Councilman Anthony Coghill’s district.

“It’s unacceptable. You are talking about an armed robbery here,” said Coghill.

But what went  wrong? Why did it take so long for police to respond?

The head of the Allegheny County 911 center told 11 Investigates the initial caller at 5:55 p.m. spoke broken English and was difficult to understand, but said the call taker made several critical mistakes and never sent the call to dispatch.

A second call from Goraya at 7:19 p.m. was sent initially sent to the Telephone Reporting Unit, but then sent back to 911 for dispatch, when officers realized the mistake.

It wasn’t until 7:47 p.m. when officers were finally dispatched to the store.

They arrived at 8 p.m., more than two hours after the robbery.

“We have a lack of police, the phone reporting system, you can no longer count on a police officer. That’s all because of a lack of, the failure to put classes on in that three year period we are still suffering from,” said Coghill, referring to Police Academy classes that were temporarily put on hold.

Because of the critical manpower shortages, police last year began responding only to in progress emergencies.

All other 911 calls now go to the Telephone Reporting Unit.

While the county’s 911 center is taking responsibility for this armed robbery delay, some officers tell 11 investigates there’s still a lot of confusion about the police response policy.

Since the suspects were already gone, they suspect the call taker may not have considered it in progress.

That has happened with several other 911 calls last year including the assault of a ride share driver Uptown, and a violent purse snatching on the South Side.

Those calls were first sent to the Telephone Reporting Unit, when officers said they should have been dispatched immediately.

Retired Pittsburgh Police Commander Ed Trapp said there shouldn’t be any confusion about an armed robbery.

“You get robbed at gunpoint, you expect, and rightly so to have a quick police response. I don’t care if the perpetrator is long gone,” said Trapp.

Using a network of surveillance cameras, police eventually tracked the suspects to a nearby motel.

Goraya told Earle he’s glad police tracked them down and he’s relieved that no one was hurt during the robbery.

“Nobody was hurt. They’re all caught so that’s good,” said Goraya.

The chief of the 911 center told 11 Investigates that the call taker who handled the first call is relatively new but he said that is no excuse.

He said the call taker was disciplined and received counseling and retraining.

The suspects got away with more than $2,000, and Goraya said police did not recover any of the cash.

Police believe they used the money to buy drugs.

Two men, Richard Blackmon, and John T. Baker, have been arrested and charged with the robbery.

Police said they believe Tireesea Robinson was the getaway driver.

She is also now charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy.

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