WASHINGTON-Ed Jose, winner of this year’s VITA*award for Crimestopper from the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, couldn’t be on hand to accept his award last week in Washington. He was testifying in the kidnapping case he helped solve, the case for which he won the award.
In early January, a 20-year old Escondido, Calif., woman was held captive in her car by a kidnapper for 17 hours. During that time, law enforcement pleaded with the public to watch out for a certain car and license plate number.
Jose was on his way to an employee meeting when he saw a car with the license plate number, and he dialed 911 on his car phone. He followed the car in question until the suspect stopped at a home.
Police then were able to arrest the man, who now is charged with kidnapping and rape and could face 25 years to life in prison if found guilty.
“I had the right information. I was in the right place,” said Jose. “I had watched the news and the pieces just fell into place and everything happened.”
North Dakota Congressman Earl Pomeroy and CTIA President Tom Wheeler presented the awards, which were part of Wireless Safety Week. The program also included a video demonstrating how the wireless industry played a major role in relief efforts during the recent flooding in North Dakota.
Three other individuals also were honored at the VITA awards.
Denny Becker won the Highway Hero award for the part he played in stopping a drunk driver from hurting or killing other drivers. The former Iowa state trooper and friends were driving home from dinner when they observed a car weaving on Interstate 80.
Becker dialed *55 on his wireless phone to alert the Iowa state radio dispatcher of the situation. Becker followed the car for more than 15 miles and kept the dispatcher up to date on the car’s whereabouts until troopers could reach the scene.
The Good Samaratin award was presented to Christine Hayes of Philadelphia. Hayes was on her way home from her job as a physical therapist when she observed an elderly woman stepping into heavy four-lane traffic without looking.
Most cars swerved to miss the woman, but the driver of a minivan never saw her and hit the woman. Hayes called for help on her wireless phone.
The elderly woman survived the accident. She suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and had wandered away from her children’s home.
Stanley Brumfield received the Lifesaver award for saving his own life.
Brumfield was driving to work before dawn one day in February when his truck hit a patch of black ice on a bridge and spun out of control. The truck skidded into the guard rail on the bridge and went over the side. The vehicle hit ground 20 feet below and flipped end-over-end until it landed in a creek bed.
Nobody witnessed the accident.
Brumfield managed to reach for his wireless phone and speed-dialed his boss, who called 911 and then hurried to the scene of the accident. Brumfield suffered eight broken ribs, a punctured lung and other internal injuries.
“The doctors told me I would not be here today if I had been forced to wait much longer for help,” said Brumfield, who spent five days in intensive care and returned to work after two months. “I’m convinced that having a cellular phone saved my life that day.”
CTIA estimates more than 59,000 emergency calls are placed on wireless phones each day in the United States, or 41 calls per minute.
