Calling police not a fault

I object to Wayne Lythgoe’s letter (April 1), in which he mistakenly states that Otto Zehm’s tragic homicide “started with a report of robbery by two women who claimed to be victims,” and that, “the fault lies with the two women who gave a false report to start with.”

Those poor young women have been grossly and unfairly maligned by Wayne Lythgoe! What really happened that awful day is that while seated in their car, the two young women observed Otto Zehm withdrawing money at an ATM. In their observation they believed that Otto Zehm, who was mentally disabled, was acting weirdly, and so they phoned police.

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, we citizens are urged to report suspicious activity to law enforcement. Although we now know that the girls misinterpreted Otto Zehm’s harmless behavior, they did the right thing at the time. They reported Otto’s odd behavior to authorities.

The seven police officers who responded escalated matters from there, and Otto was attacked and killed for no reason. In no way are the two young women at fault for Otto Zehm’s horrible homicide. They were acting as good citizens. Tragically, the police called there that day were not.

Dana Freeborn

Spokane