Doggy-door deliverance

POST FALLS - It never hurts to have a little wiggle room.

Post Falls Police officer Emily Morris, who has only been patrolling the streets for six months, wiggled through a doggy door of a home on Sunday to rescue a 90-year-old woman who had fallen and couldn't stand without assistance.

The 5-foot-5-inch Morris said she shed her gun belt, put her arms through the small opening first and wiggled her way inside the home.

"I didn't think twice about it," said Morris, who was a PFPD dispatcher for four years before becoming an officer. "Making sure she wasn't injured was my first priority.

"I don't think that I did anything any other officer wouldn't have done. I was just able to fit through it because of my size."

The woman had fallen, but did not suffer injuries.

"We could see her through the sliding glass door and she was conscious sitting on her bottom," Morris said. "She didn't have the strength to pick herself up off the floor."

Morris and another officer were dispatched to the home for a welfare check.

"Her daughter from Florida was speaking with her on the phone and called us because she thought her mom had fallen and hit her head," Morris said. "While they were speaking, the phone went dead."

The officers responded, but no one came to the door when they knocked. After they learned the front door was locked and couldn't see inside the home, they went to the back door and saw the woman inside.

The officers also saw two small dogs inside and the doggy door.

"It was the way to get inside," Morris said. "We figured it was better than booting in the door."

Morris said the woman appeared to be stressed and frustrated about not being able to stand.

"She let us know how thankful she was that we came," Morris said.

The woman and her daughter declined to comment.

Morris downplayed her involvement.

"I just felt that I was doing my job," she said.