Emergency services call operators always have plenty of stories to tell about funny or inappropriate calls they have received from members of the public who feel they are in need of assistance from the emergency services. These range from people ringing for a lift home to someone wanting help because they have lost something at home. While some of these phone calls waste the time of the emergency services, there are other tales that are quite endearing.
The perfect example of this is a call they received from five-year-old TyLon Pittman from Mississippi. After watching the movie ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’, he was very concerned that a crime had taken place and was even more concerned that the Grinch would come to steal his Christmas, too. The youngster didn’t want his favorite holiday season ruining and realized he needed to take action.
However, he didn’t think that he could cope with such a major situation alone and felt that he needed the support of the police to prevent the Grinch from stealing his Christmas and saving this festive time of the year.
He felt the best course of action to take was to ring 911. The dispatcher there was amused by his call and posted a status on Facebook about TyLon and his concerns. When Police Officer Lauren Develle saw the social media post, she knew she needed to reassure TyLon that his holiday was safe.
Develle is also a fan of the movie and has been likened to Cindy Lou Who, one of the film’s characters, in the past. She said that when she was growing up, watching this movie was an important Christmas tradition in her family. The officer decided to go and see TyLon at his home to speak to him personally and asked the dispatcher for his home address.
When Develle visited the boy at his home, TyLon’s older brother, TeDera Dwayne Graves, was also at home. TeDara is in the Air Force but was at home for the holidays. He filmed the conversation between his younger brother and the police officer as he thought it was so funny. He then posted his video on Facebook adding a caption about how he couldn’t have made up the story and what it was TyLon had done.
In the conversation, Develle told TyLon that she wouldn’t let the Grinch come to steal his Christmas. The boy was still concerned that the Grinch would turn up to try and take his Christmas away but told the officer that he would ring back if he thought that there was a possibility that this could happen. Develle reassured him that the Byram Police Department could handle the situation.
TyLon’s mother, TeResa Pittman, was shocked that her son truly believed that the Grinch would come and had no idea that he had phoned the emergency services until the police officer arrived at their home. It was arranged for someone dressed as the Grinch to arrive at TyLon’s home so that the youngster had the opportunity to see the arch villain arrested and jailed before Christmas.
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