Police rescue at-risk woman who called 999 to ‘order a pizza’

An at-risk woman was rescued by police this week after she dialled 999 and asked the operator if she could ‘order a pizza’.

North Yorkshire Police shared the story on their Twitter page on Wednesday, April 6th, writing: “When a call ‘to order pizza’ becomes an urgent plea for help.”

The force explained that the woman on the line said that she would like to order a pizza, prompting the call handler to immediately ask if she was in trouble.

When the woman confirmed her situation with a simple ‘yes’, the call handler was able to establish through ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers that she was on a bus in North Yorkshire, and was at risk of harm from a man who was with her. 

The call handler was then able to communicate with the woman via text message, with officers locating her bus using an online tracker and eventually bringing it to a stop.

A forty-year-old man was subsequently arrested in connection with the incident and, at the time of writing, had been remanded in police custody. 

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North Yorkshire Police went on to explain that while 999 calls are directed to call centres and answered by BT operators, if anything suspicious is heard, the call will be connected directly to a police call handler.

In their Twitter thread, the force explained: “It’s always best to speak to the operator if you can, even by whispering. You may also be asked to cough or tap the keys on your phone in response to questions.

“The police call handler will attempt to communicate with you by asking simple yes or no questions.

“If you are not able to speak, listen carefully to the questions and instructions from the call handler so we can assess your call and arrange help if needed.”

Social media users were quick to praise the police force for sharing such important and potentially life-saving advice, with one person writing: “Thank you for sharing this and well done to the remarkable staff who have to handle these calls on what could be very extremely distressing situations.”

Another commented: “Reassuring, and a good job carried out here. Well done all.”

North Yorkshire Police

Inspector Dan Spence, Force Incident Manager in North Yorkshire Police’s Control Room, has since commended the work from both the call handler and the officers involved.

He said in a statement: “This was really good work by everyone involved, allowing us to take immediate action to safeguard a vulnerable woman.

“I’m aware of people using the ‘pizza ordering’ technique abroad to contact the police, but I cannot recall a similar call in North Yorkshire.”

For more information on the incident and how best to alert the police when in a vulnerable situation, click here.