BOSTON -- Calling 911 is supposed to mean help is immediately on the way, but for the second time in recent months, a 911 mistake caused Boston police to show up much too late to a crime scene.

NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that a 76-year-old man was robbed and beaten on Braeburn Road in West Roxbury on Apr. 20, but he waited 35 minutes for emergency help after neighbors called 911.

The call taker told the dispatcher the call wasn't a priority because the robber had already fled scene.

Meanwhile, the victim was bleeding from the head and needed immediate medical care.

"I had no comprehension of how long it took until they told me," the victim, who wanted to be identified only as Jim, told NewsCenter 5.

He said it was a Sunday morning and he was walking home from a nearby square and noticed a man following him. He stopped to throw his neighbor's newspaper into her doorwayand when he turned around he was attacked.

"The next thing I know, boom, bang and that was all I saw was stars," he said. When he came to his wallet and money were gone.

He called for help and several neighbors rushed to his aid. Everyone then waited for officers to arrive.

"They were all saying they couldn't imagine where the police were," he said. His friends said he laid there for about 40 minutes before help came.

"I tell you, I was mad. Not about the response, but I was mad this happened to me," he said.

Jim said the robber never said a word to him, just hit and ran after getting his wallet. The wallet was later found in a neighbor's yard.

It was the second time in less than two months a 911 call taker's mistake led to a delayed response. In March, Melissa Santiago was fatally stabbed. In that case, a police cruiser was dispatched to 680 Washington Street in Downtown Crossing, rather than the actual scene at 680 Washington Street in Dorchester.

The result was a 14-minute delay in police arriving at the scene. The mishap was blamed on a computer glitch. Now police send cruisers to matching locations.

In the Hyde Park mistake, Police Comissioner Ed Davis called the victim to apologize. The dispatcher and call taker will be retrained and could be disciplined.

"We've got to stop this. People are dependent on the police department to answer the calls. We gotta be there for them. Thirty-seven minutes is just too long," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said.

"Receiving more than 600,000 calls annually, our 911 operations center consistently strives to deliver the most efficient and best service possible. That is what our community members deserve and that is what we intend to deliver," the police department said in a prepared statement.

"Commissioner, you'll see over the next week or so, will really come up with refined policies and practices dealing with this," Menino said.