Elder abuse on the rise

 

Snow, freezing rain and harsh winds buffeted the house on River Road in Tinicum. When the power went out, some people flicked on generators to keep the essentials going — heat, hot water. Others drove to the homes of family or friends who had power.

Angelina Darago had nowhere to go. The 91-year-old, who has Alzheimer’s, couldn’t even get out of bed to get another blanket. She was soaked in her own urine. There was no one to help her. When police arrived, the temperature inside her house was in the 40s.

Darago had been left alone for four days while the woman who was supposed to care for her, Danawa Buchanan, was more than 400 miles away in Maine, according to authorities. They said the caregiver had neglected the woman for more than a year and spent more than $300,000 of Darago’s money (including buying a house) during that time.

Buchanan, who’s now 65, reached a settlement with prosecutors last year in which she avoided charges and forfeited the house she had bought with Darago’s money to Darago. Buchanan has since moved out of state.

“For (Darago), now she is in a nursing home, she’s getting Social Security disability and medical assistance,” said Marc Furber, chief of the Bucks County District Attorney’s Arson and Economic Crimes division. “We wanted to get as much money back as quickly as possible to give her the best standard of living possible.”

The elderly can make easy targets for scams, financial abuse and physical abuse and neglect, according to Furber and assistant district attorney Michelle Laucella, who prosecutes elder abuse.

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Elder abuse on the rise