Nags Head – Last Sunday evening, a local man placed a frantic call to the Dare County Sheriff’s Office 911 Communications Center. A transcript of the call follows:
24 July 2016, 5:17 p.m.
(DC911) Dare County 911.
(WW) Hello, ah, this is Willett Wescott. You’ve got to help me!
(DC911) What is the nature of your emergency, Mr. Wescott?
(WW) Oh, please, hurry. I’m trapped!
(DC911) And what is your location, sir?
(WW) I’m in the Nags Head Food Lion. The old one, not the new one.
(DC911) You say you are trapped? How are you trapped, sir? Is somebody holding you against your will?
(WW) I’m back by the beer cooler. God only knows how I got this far, but I can’t get out now. The carts, they are everywhere, jammed up one against the other. People are being crushed!
(DC911) Sir, leave your groceries behind and try to work your way to the front of the store.
(WW) It’s too late, too late, I tell you. I am pinned up against the IPA’s. Every checkout line is open, but the lines stretch all the way to the back of the store. This is never going to clear. We’re all going to die in here!
(DC911) Please stay calm, sir. I am dispatching police to assist you.
(WW) You don’t understand. They are like locusts. There was a flat with hundreds of cases of Bud Light, and they just swarmed over it. It was gone in three minutes.
(DC911) Can you climb up into the cooler, sir?
(WW) I’m doing the best I can, but I think I am wedged in too tightly. For the love of God, they are even taking the Bud Light Cheladas. Cases of them. It has Clamato in it. Has the world gone mad?
(DC911) Please remain calm, sir. Officers are en route.
(WW) I . . . I think I’m going to pass out. Tell my wife I love her.
[End of call.]
Police arrived at the site minutes later, but found that they could not gain access to the store in their vehicles due to the heavy traffic. Attempts were made to reach the front door on foot, but after three officers were taken out in the parking lot by children swinging boogie boards and swim noodles it was decided to call in a helicopter.
The chopper was landed on the roof of the supermarket, the roof was breached, and a line was dropped to the barely conscious Mr. Wescott. He was lifted out of the crush of shopping carts and airlifted to the Outer Banks Hospital on the other end of the parking lot. A full recovery is expected.
A spokesperson for the Nags Head Police Department later released a statement: “This underlines our frequent reminders to the locals to avoid grocery shopping on turnover days. Even strong shoppers can be swept up in the crush of arriving visitors and never seen again. Remember, when the red ‘No Shopping’ flags are out, just stay home, and always be aware of the yellow warning flags in front of known tourist currents.”