CT Police 911 Dispatcher Fired over Improper Handling of Murder Call: Report

WATERBURY, CT — The Waterbury 911 dispatcher who handled the emergency call last month when Helena Vargas was murdered while delivering take-out food, reportedly has been fired for the inappropriate way she handled that and other emergency calls.

Soon after the Aug. 23 shooting incident, Nicole Scarino was placed on administrative leave, in part because she struggled to understand the caller, fellow delivery person Rolando Alvarez, 60, reports Fox61 News. Alvarez's native language reportedly is not English.

Scarino, a seven-year veteran dispatcher, was fired Tuesday following a disciplinary hearing. Residents had launched a Change.org petition calling on Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary to fire her over the way she handled the call.

"This supplication is toward the removal of a Waterbury 911 Dispatcher, Nicole Scarino, for grossly misunderstanding someone's linguistic inabilities while under the duress of a life and death matter," wrote Yvette Vargas, who started the petition which more than 2,100 people signed. "Especially when they work as a first responder. We as a community can not, and should not, accept lesser professionalism because it could happen to any one of us."

Four teenagers have been arrested in connection with the murder, according to police.

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