Regina woman who called 911 after mom cut Wi-Fi says police tweet doesn't tell whole story
A 23-year-old Regina woman who called 911 after her mother cut off their home’s Wi-Fi connection, said a tweet from a local police officer who responded to the call does not tell the whole story.
On Tuesday, Regina police Cst. Mike Seel, joked about the call on Twitter — saying he had responded to a call "where a 23-year-old called the cops on their mom, who they live with rent-free, for turning off the wifi because they wouldn't do chores."
Seel said the woman was "told to leave" if she didn't like it.
The woman, who asked to be referred to as Lee, said that was exactly what she was trying to do.
“I felt like the tweet was misleading, it was claimed that I had called an emergency in because the Wi-Fi had gotten cut off and I guess if you want to strip it of its details that’s what it looks like,” she said.
According to Lee, the internet connection was abruptly axed as she was in the process of setting up an interview with a potential landlord, and she called 911 in a moment of panic during a fraught, anxious situation.
“So she [mom] cuts off the Wi-Fi and I asked her how she expects me to move out if I can’t communicate," she said, explaining that the situation was escalating.
Lee was aware that her call was not an emergency situation.
“The [911] dispatcher asked if it was an emergency and I explicitly told her 'no' and that I am just unsure of what to do,” Lee said.
Lee said the dispatchers were easy to deal with.
“They were excellent, they determined that it wasn’t an emergency so I was given the administration line and [the dispatcher] told me to write it down so that’s what I did and I was told that responders would be there to assist me.”
According to Lee, she prefaced the call by saying she didn’t know what kind of help she needed right now.
Lee said she finds her current living situation difficult and she has been under a lot of pressure.
She explained she wasn't living "rent-free" as Seel said and is also a new university student who is currently employed. Lee said she also recently earned her GED.
In reality, she said she has been helping her family out with the challenges they are facing while also recovering from her own addictions issues for the past two years.
She said she felt humiliated when she learned one of the responding police officers tweeted publicly about the situation even though her name and address were not shared.
In an email to CTV News, Regina Police Service (RPS) said the purpose of its, "ancillary Twitter accounts is to provide interesting alternatives for informing and educating the public and also for engagement directly from the subject matter experts themselves."
RPS said "human interest topics" are part of its engagement strategy.
"But always in these instances, efforts are made to de-identify the subjects. In keeping with these efforts, we will not provide further comment,” RPS said.
Since the incident, Lee said she is no longer living with her mother and is lucky enough to have co-workers that have taken her in for the time being.
“Right now I’m being supported by my amazing co-workers. I have a great job filled with amazing people and I’ve been able to connect with them, a lot of them have been in similar situations.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.