The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that a woman in Ajax, Ontario, was in a difficult situation when a man broke into her home.
As a result of the difficult situation in which she was in, the woman called the police, but she mistakenly called the Durham City Police in the United Kingdom.
British police said they received the strange call on Wednesday afternoon via live chat technology.
“I need help, he’s approaching, he’s home,” the woman wrote in the distress call, then fell silent.
The error was caused by a similarity in names between the Durham region in Britain and another with the same name in the Canadian province of Ontario.
The British liaison officer did not shut down the live chat, and his colleagues were quick to call their counterparts in her Canadian role.
Indeed, they quickly came to the aid of the woman, as they found a 35-year-old man inside her house.
British police officer Andrea Arthur said: “This was an unusual incident and an extremely traumatic situation for the victim, but the team remained calm and were able to help our Canadian colleagues resolve the situation quickly and professionally.”
The suspect tried to escape, but was eventually trapped nearby, and at first refused to comply with the officers’ requests, they had to electrocute him and eventually arrest him.
Police say the man has since been charged with a series of offences, including housebreaking, assault, forcible confinement and disobeying a legal injunction.