Inset: Alecia Lindsay (Facebook). Background: The area in Alaska where Alecia Lindsay was spotted "crawling" in the snow and freezing temperatures (KTUU).
An Alaska woman froze to death while stranded outside in temperatures between 17 and 28 degrees Fahrenheit — with nearly 3 feet of snow on the ground — after a 911 dispatcher failed to send help for more than an hour, a lawsuit says.
Alecia Lindsay, 31, was "crawling around" outside when a resident spotted her on Feb. 8, 2024, and called 911 for help after Lindsay knocked on their door, according to a legal complaint filed by her family against the Municipality of Anchorage, which was obtained by local NBC affiliate KTUU.
Court records viewed by Law&Crime show that the complaint was filed last month in superior court against the city, its Emergency Communications Center, emergency dispatchers, and the Anchorage Police Department. The defendants are being sued for negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
According to KTUU, the complaint accuses the dispatcher who handled the call for service on the night Lindsay was spotted outside in Anchorage of wrongly classifying the call as a Priority 3 disturbance rather than a medical emergency. It alleges that the dispatcher assured the resident who called 911 that help was on the way when it wasn't, KTUU reports.
The dispatcher failed to recognize Lindsay's urgent need for medical help, including signs that she was suffering from hypothermia after the resident who called 911 and her spouse relayed information that should have made it obvious, the complaint says.
This included saying Lindsay was "shaking extremely because it was cold" and appeared to be "feeling overwhelmed" by the frigid temperatures, according to KTUU.
"As soon as we can," the dispatcher allegedly told the resident regarding when help would be sent. When help was finally called, dispatch issued it for police — not emergency medical services.
It took an Anchorage Police officer roughly eight minutes after arriving on scene to realize that Lindsay was in need of an ambulance and they requested one. This happened about 80 minutes after the 911 call came in, per the complaint.
Multiple calls were made that night, according to Lindsay's family, after the dispatcher allegedly told the resident to call back if the situation escalated; the dispatcher entered a hold status just 51 seconds after the first call was logged.
There was no recorded dispatcher activity for more than 20 minutes, the complaint says. When the resident called back, her spouse allegedly got on the phone and told the dispatcher that the woman was "shaking extremely" due to the cold weather.
Instead of asking questions related to her physical state, the dispatcher is accused of focusing on the callers' safety with inquiries about whether Lindsay had any weapons on her, whether they could stay away from her, whether they could lock their door, and if the couple knew who Lindsay was.
More than 30 minutes after the initial call, call log records obtained by KTUU show that the dispatcher allegedly made notes in the system about Lindsay wearing a black sweater, black jeans and black boots — with no coat, hat or gloves — in temperatures between 17 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit.
Over the course of the next 30 minutes, there is no recorded dispatcher activity, KTUU reports. The first call was made at 6:34 a.m. and it wasn't until 7:36 a.m. that the Anchorage police officer was dispatched to the scene, according to 911 records.
The officer arrived at 7:46 a.m. and requested EMS at 7:54 a.m., per KTUU.
Paramedics arrived at 8:05 a.m, Lindsay stopped breathing at 8:12 a.m., and was pronounced dead at 9:38 a.m. at Providence Hospital. Her cause of death: hypothermia due to exposure to cold environmental temperatures, according to KTUU.
Lindsay's family argues that a properly trained 911 dispatcher in Alaska should have recognized that she was suffering from hypothermia before it was too late.
Call logs obtained by KTUU show that police had encountered Lindsay the day before while she was at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. She was allegedly approached after being spotted crying and acting erratically, with police being concerned that she might be experiencing a mental health crisis.
Officers drove Lindsay home on the morning of Feb. 7 after she reported losing her cell phone and missing a flight that was supposed to have been booked by an acquaintance, she told police.
After arriving at her home, police report that Lindsay got a neighbor to take her back to the airport, where she flagged down a driver and got them to take her to downtown Anchorage. The driver called 911 and said he was worried that she was having a mental health crisis or was physically unwell, according to police.
Officers went to the location where the driver dropped Lindsay off, but they "did not find anything," KTUU reports, citing the police report. Surveillance footage obtained by cops shows Lindsay wandering around Anchorage without a coat before arriving at the home of the resident who called the 911 dispatcher named in the lawsuit.
According to KTUU, the city has denied the negligence allegations and argues in court filings that the dispatcher owed no legal duty to Lindsay that is enforceable in court. It also claims that the city is not liable for any harm caused by others, and that the police department and Emergency Communications Center are not independent legal entities that can be sued separately, only the Municipality itself.
Lindsay's family and its lawyer could not be reached for comment by Law&Crime on Sunday, nor could the city. Police and municipality officials both declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached by KTUU.