lost and found

Sunday, January 25, 2009 9:00am: Shmira received a call from a resident of an apartment building located at 672 Empire Blvd. The caller stated that there was a black male teenager sitting on the stairs on the 4^th floor and that he didn’t live in the building and didn’t look to good either.

A few Shmira members responded and found the teenager to be foaming a little from the mouth, sitting next to a helmet and bag with some of his belongings. After starting a dialog with the young man the Shmira members found him to be mentally challenged. They spoke to him kindly in an effort to find out who he was and where he lived. After a brief conversation the Shmira members were able to find out his home address, full name and that he had decided to run away from home and go to his friend’s apartment (which he thought was in this building but didn’t know which apartment). He also suffers from seizures which is why he had the helmet.

One of the Shmira members called 911 and requested EMS as well as the NYPD to help contact/locate his family to let them know that he was ok and to bring him home.

EMS arrived and told him to put the helmet back on his head (to protect him in case of a seizure) and questioned him as well. A few minutes later the NYPD arrived and informed us that he was reported missing at 5:30am and that they had been looking for him all over Crown Heights. Before bringing the teenager home the Officers thanked Shmira for all their help and for dealing with the situation in the best possible way. One officer mentioned that it’s a good thing the teenager picked a building where the residents were on the lookout otherwise he probably would not have been found so quickly.

photo illustration

Follow