WESTLAKE, Ohio — A welfare check on a 91-year-old Westlake woman turned into a lighthearted scene Thursday when police found her in her bedroom playing video games after she missed her daily check-in from the city’s Are You Okay? program.
The woman did not answer the program’s call, and dispatchers and her daughter also could not reach her. Officers went to her home, but she did not answer the door. Police then used a code to open the garage door and went inside, where one officer said, “She’s playing video games in her bedroom.” Another officer added, “We’re here with her,” as the check unfolded.
The woman was fine, police said, and she had simply missed the contacts because she was trying to beat her record in a video game. Captain Jerry Vogel said the woman was thankful officers checked on her, and that “everyone got a good laugh out of it.” He said it was also a reminder that “everyone's a little bit alarmed that she's missing these contacts,” which is why the program exists in the first place.
Westlake’s Are You Okay? program lets residents sign up for a daily phone call to make sure everything is okay, and Vogel called the episode “a great reminder” that the service is available any time Westlake residents want it. The woman’s name was not released.
For residents who want to enroll, Westlake says they can email Donna Feorene at dfeorene@cityofwestlake.org.
The call ended without an emergency, but it showed the program working exactly as intended: a missed check-in prompted a response, officers made contact, and the woman was found safe. What began as an alarm became a small, oddly charming snapshot of how a daily phone call can still matter, even when the missing resident is busy chasing a video-game score.
