An elderly woman was arrested Thursday for failing to report squalid conditions in her car where she and her husband were living, say police. Arresting Beverly Maguire, 72, was the only way police could get the couple the help they need, said Police Chief Lou Ferland.
Maguire and her husband, Roger, 79, were living in their car last year when police were working with state agencies to explore various guardianship options, said Ferland. The couple then left the area and legal papers expired, say police.
They were brought to police attention again on Thursday morning when they were involved in a car crash in a McDonald's parking lot, said Capt. Mike Schwartz. Their car is “ridiculously unsafe,” so it was towed, he said.
Ferland said the interior of the car where the couple was living was filled with trash and human waste. The Maguires refused offers of help for medical treatment and housing, so police decided to get them “into the system” by making an arrest, said the police chief.
Because Roger's physical and psychological health was determined to be more diminished than his wife's, she was arrested, say police.
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Police Use Arrest to Get Help for Elderly Couple Living in Car
2 comments:
It's sad when our elderly are tossed away because they need to run away from our Courts. I'm not certain if the police involvement will help or further hams this couple. Once guardianized, which they will probably be, because they don't have the loved ones to help protect them, one must ask, "Is living in a car better or worse than living in hell under a public guardian or guardians ad litem? I guess we'll never know about this couple because they may simply get lost in the system, especially if they have money.
I'm not sure about this; we need to know the whole story.
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