Listening to the audio is disturbing because you can tell by her voice she was scared to death. In between talking to the dispatcher, the girl begs her father to pull over. Because she was so upset, it took the dispatcher almost 20 minutes to determine where the car was.
Late last month, the girl and her sister were in their father’s car driving from Atlanta to their grandparents home in St. Simons on the Georgia coast. About four hours away from Atlanta, the frightened girl made the call.
The call begins with the girl asking if this is 911. After being told it was she said, “I’m a kid and I think my dad is drunk. I know my dad is drunk and he is the only one driving and I think I’m going to get into a wreck.” She also said her dad was “driving fastly.”
In between talking to the dispatcher, the girl can be heard talking to her father. She cried, “Daddy, stop the friggin car! Stop the car! Pull over somewhere!” The father ignored her and kept on driving. The girl kept pleading with the dispatcher for help saying, “Help me! Help me!” At one point she said, “Officer, please help me!”
The dispatcher attempted to find out where the car was by asking the girl to point out buildings the car was passing. But she was too frightened to help and so upset the dispatcher could not make out exactly what she was saying. She could not tell the dispatcher where they were going.
The girl also said she did not want her father to go to jail “but he’s drunk.”
Eventually she calmed down enough to tell the dispatcher they were on the way to her father’s parents’ house in St. Simons and even remembered her grandparents’ address. The dispatcher stayed on the line with the nine-year-old until they reached her grandparents’ home. After they arrived, police with the Glynn County Police Department showed up. The father, Wesley Burgner 36, was charged with DUI, endangering a child and driving with a suspended license.
According to the police report, Burgner smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred and he had difficulty walking. Police also say he admitted driving from Atlanta and drinking along the way.
This was not the first time a child has contacted 911 while in a car driven by a parent. Last April, a girl texted 911 to report her father was driving drunk and persuaded him to stop at a fast-food restaurant where he was arrested. On a lighter note, a boy told his dad he should not have made a right-hand turn on a red light. The boy did not accept his father’s explanation it was legal and called 911.
SEE ALSO: Kids in backseat text 911 saying dad driving drunk
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The girl and her sister were not harmed. Burgner was taken to the Glynn County Detention Center and his bond has been set at $6,070. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.
