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| David Olsen |
Six
criminal cases — five misdemeanors for trespassing and a felony theft
charge — have kept Olsen jailed since mid-October and he is suffering
from a worsening state of dementia.
A petition filed by
PATH, a local agency that provides services to the homeless, seeks a
state guardianship for Olsen to provide for his care and housing.
But
at 56 years of age, Olsen is opposing the petition that could place him
in a nursing home. A Feb. 13 jury trial has been scheduled by McLean
County Judge Rebecca Foley.
At a December hearing, Olsen
explained his position to Foley and Dan Daneen and Rusty Depew, lawyers
assigned to the guardianship case.
"I can take care of
myself. I will find a place to go. I'm not going to a nursing home. I
don't have a guardianship. I won't have a guardianship," said Olsen.
Bloomington
lawyer Rob Carter has been named to represent Olsen in his challenge; a
public defender is handling his criminal case.
Previously,
PATH Executive Director Karen Zangerle testified that Olsen has a long
history of going from shelters, to the street, to the jail. Psychiatric
evaluations have deemed Olsen to be disabled, she said.
The
use of guardianship petitions for homeless people with mental
illness is a new option being used in McLean County. Zangerle said she
filed six such petitions last year.
The McLean County
State's Attorney's office cooperates with the guardianship process that
recently placed two other jail inmates in nursing homes.
Depew
serves as temporary guardian, while Daneen, McLean County's public
guardian, handles housing, financial and other matters.
Daneen
was among other state-appointed public guardians recently removed by
Gov. Bruce Rauner as part of the new administration's review of all
state appointments. Rauner said the appointees may be renamed.
On a long-term basis, the Illinois Office of State Guardian looks after disabled people who need a permanent guardian.
In
Olsen's case, the state guardian's office has concerns about his
apparent unwillingness to comply with a move to a nursing home.
In
a conference call during a hearing on Friday, a lawyer with the state
suggested that placing him in a mental health facility is a better
option at this time.
"Trying to get a nursing home to
take someone like this is is virtually impossible. They don't have
to," Pamela Connell told Foley and the lawyers.
Long history
Olsen's
criminal history in McLean County spans more than three decades, dating
back to his acquittal in 1993 on sexual abuse charges. Since then, he
has logged 35 misdemeanors, one felony and nine ordinance violations.
More
than 24 of the misdemeanors were for trespassing on private or public
property and for refusing to leave several places that have provided
shelter and medical care in the past: Salvation Army's Safe Harbor, the
McLean County jail and Advocate BroMenn Medical Center.
A
snapshot of Olsen's life shows a man who is chronically homeless and
unemployed with visible signs of the mental and physical deterioration
that often comes with life on the streets. In the past seven years,
Olsen has dropped more than 30 pounds and grown a long white beard that
makes him look older than his 56 years.
In a majority of
the cases, the state dismissed charges against him, according to
a review of court records. In several other cases, Olsen pleaded guilty
and served jail time.
He listed Safe Harbor and Home
Sweet Home Mission as his addresses in 2008 and 2009 court documents. By
2011, he was listed as homeless.
Since 2009, Olsen has spent 569 days in the county jail.
His
most recent stay of 135 days so far has put Olsen among about a dozen
mentally ill inmates in the jail's booking area, a difficult
situation for jail staff that improves when inmates leave for more
stable environments. (Continue Reading)
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It will be interesting how this turns out. I think he'll go to a facility to fill a Medicaid bed.
ReplyDeleteSad situation leaving me with many questions about David Olsen's life as a youngster and young adult.
ReplyDeleteHe is in the system, the criminal system so it's best to get him placed in a safe location, a bed, meals and a roof sounds like a good remedy.
He sounds like he is competent to make his own decisions, whether we relate or agree to those decisions or not. If someone actually spent time investigating his past indiscretions, I wonder if perhaps he would be cleared of all of them. Unfortunately, I am suspicious of the language used by the professionals and courts. It sounds too similar to that used to invoke inappropriate control over the elderly.
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