Seattle woman says she waited two hours for police after calling 911



SEATTLE -- A Seattle woman says she waited two hours for police to arrive after she called 911.

Hilary Sparrow says her bike was stolen in broad daylight about two weeks ago. Sparrow left it chained to a pole and when she came back it was gone.

For the last two weeks, Sparrow says she has been searching for the bike. She says she has been posting on social media and using other websites to try and track it down.

On Thursday, she says she found the bike in Ballard.

“I call 911 and say 'hey, I have eyes on my bike,'” she said.

Sparrow says her bike was sitting in a homeless camp. She says she wanted to go take the bike but was warned by friends that it might be dangerous.

Instead, Sparrow says she waited for police to arrive.

“I was shocked that we had to wait two hours, I’m still completely blown away,” she said.

When the police did show up, Sparrow says the bike had been moved.

Sparrow says it took about two hours for police to arrive at the scene. According to Seattle Police records, that is more than two times the average response time.

Seattle Police officials say Sparrow’s incident is a Priority 2. These type crimes are lower priories than ones involving life-threatening emergencies.

Seattle Police say they have detectives and officers who investigate bike thefts and work toward returning the stolen items back to owners.