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| -Short Attention Span Theater- | |
| A 93-year-old woman is evicted from her home and arrested – just before her birthday | |
| 2017-12-15 | |
| [Charlotte Observer] MIAMI - Two days before her 94th birthday, Juanita Fitzgerald was arrested and hauled off to jail. The Eustis, Florida, woman’s crime? She was being evicted and had fallen behind on her rent, WFTV 9 News reported. Instead of vacating her home at the National Church Residences’ Franklin House, a senior living community, she was accused Wednesday of refusing to leave her unit. Fitzgerald’s 94th birthday is Friday. When Eustis police officers arrived at the community, Fitzgerald refused officers’ commands to leave and told them, "Unless you carry me out of here, I’m not going anywhere," according to the Eustis Police Department report obtained by the Miami Herald. "Juanita Fitzgerald was made well aware the day prior of her being evicted today," according to the police report. "While on scene, Juanita was asked several times to leave the property and was advised she was currently trespassed and could no longer stay at this location." As officers attempted to escort her from the front lobby, Fitzgerald "intentionally slid out of her chair and onto the floor," according to the report. At one point she grabbed the glasses from a deputy’s face. Eventually, the five-foot, 100-pound woman was escorted out of the building and into the rear seat of Officer David Perez’s police car and taken to Lake County Jail. She was charged with trespassing, according to the police report. But she was given one liberty. "Due to Juanita’s age, it was deemed necessary to transport her without handcuffs to reduce risk of injury," the report read. Franklin House staff offered to help her move, according to the police report, but Fitzgerald refused. She also refused assistance from the Department of Children and Families, The Homeless Coalition, Department of Elder Affairs and eight other agencies, officers said.
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| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #10 This is supposedly a church home therefore they should be aware of the scripture that forbids what they did to this elderly woman as a Christian entity. But no worries. There is a place in hell waiting for these fakes. |
| Posted by: Cheretle Angeans6218 2017-12-15 19:28 |
| #9 Was her door kicked down by the EffBeeEye at 4:00 a.m.? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2017-12-15 17:26 |
| #8 So Church Residences basically gave her a choice of the sidewalk or jail? And not being dumb, she chose jail. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-12-15 16:25 |
| #7 So Church Residences basically gave her a choice of the sidewalk or jail? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2017-12-15 16:20 |
| #6 Sorry, not! It seems this story engaged my INCENSED circuit. Perhaps I carry some residual guilt from having been in close proximity to this before. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-12-15 12:37 |
| #5 Yeah, especially when the facility administrator is the mayor's sister-in-law or butt buddy or something. Who's paying for the blue tide Christmas party? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-12-15 12:31 |
| #4 Dude! Tell us how you really feel. The Police can't choose which laws to enforce any more than they can choose to use deadly force or not (huh?) during an arrest. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-12-15 12:27 |
| #3 Eventually, the 94 yo, five-foot, 100-pound woman was escorted out of the building and into the rear seat of Officer David Perez’s police car and taken to Lake County Jail. Really...REALLY!? What happened to "Serve and Protect"? This is one the Useless, FL blue team should have passed on. but it isn’t fair to require the nursing home to provide an expensive service without recompense. No? Perhaps they should have a transitional exit strategy in the contract they administer to those of already diminished capacity rather than a termination clause. They were happy enough to take her money when she wasn't any trouble or they couldn't rent the room for more. I hope the lawsuit breaks the back of the property operations group and forces the small minded police chief to resign. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-12-15 12:23 |
| #2 There's another article on the same story. It says the facility stopped accepting her payments after September because they were putting her out; blaming her for mold in her unit. Sure, she exacerbated her situation by being a stubborn feisty old woman. But the residence people aren't blameless in this situation either. |
| Posted by: Black Charlie Hitler7534 2017-12-15 09:20 |
| #1 My 91-year old mother moved to a retirement community near me a few years ago. She loves it there, but she is healthy and has no significant mental deterioration. She has commented that it is very, very hard for those around her to admit when they have deteriorated physically and/or mentally enough to need to move up to assisted living or the Alzheimers ward, often taking that refusal to the point where it is physially dangerous for them to continue where they are. The fact that Ms Fitzgerald has run out of money —or forgotten to pay the rent, a different problem — and refused to accept the help the building social worker clearly organized for her, is an indication that more is going on than just the owner being mean to a dear, little old lady. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2017-12-15 09:07 |