Elderly exploitation charges dropped against former Santa Rosa County Sheriff's employees

by Kai Davis

SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. -- Charges of elderly exploitation against two members of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office have been dropped.

In June 2022, Deputy Carl Scheel III and Civilian Clerk Alicia Scheel were both charged with felony count of exploiting the elderly out of an amount greater than $10,000 but less than $50,000.

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office announced that both Carl and Alicia Scheel were separated from the sheriff's office back in June 2022, and charged accordingly.

“Agency employees will always be held to high standards, both on and off duty," Sheriff Johnson previously stated in a release. "Although an arrest has been made, we are continuing this investigation and it remains very active."

The sheriff's office says they arrested both Carl and Alicia after a months-long investigation that took place from February to June of last year.

According to a report, Carl and Alicia Scheel were accused of moving a pickup truck from Carl's father's name into their names without the father's consent.

But just over a week ago, prosecutors filed to drop charges against both Carl and Alicia Scheel, and the case was closed.

Both Carl and Alicia remain separated from the sheriff's office.

WEAR News reached out to the sheriff's office for comment. There is no statement at this time.

Full Article & Source:
Elderly exploitation charges dropped against former Santa Rosa County Sheriff's employees

Charge dropped for grandmother who refused to leave daughter’s side at hospital

A 70-year old great grandmother was hauled off to jail last month after refusing to leave her critically ill daughter’s side at UF Health in Jacksonville.

A 70-year old great grandmother was hauled off to jail last month after refusing to leave her critically ill daughter’s side at UF Health in Jacksonville.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s a story that gained national attention.

A 70-year old great grandmother was hauled off to jail last month after refusing to leave her critically ill daughter’s side at UF Health in Jacksonville.

On Thursday, News4Jax learned the misdemeanor charge of trespassing have been dropped.

“I was not looking at spending any time in jail,” Lynn Savage said.

Savage said she is happy the charges were dropped but she says the UF Health nurse who called security on her should have recognized her as her daughter’s advocate.

The last time News4Jax spoke with Savage she had just been released from jail after being arrested on a charge of trespassing.

Savage was arrested after she refused to leave her daughter’s bedside at UF Health after her daughter had just undergone brain surgery.

“It makes sense to me that they would drop the charges. It didn’t make sense that they would arrest me at all,” she said.

Savage said she’s her daughter’s caregiver, advocate and interpreter since her daughter is mostly non-verbal after suffering a brain injury. She says her daughter’s doctor had asked her to be at the hospital to calm her down following the surgery.

“I was being instrumental in helping them communicate with her, then all of a sudden they wanted me to leave,” Savage said.

Savage was asked to leave after visiting hours ended. According to UF Health, those hours end at 7 p.m. due to COVID-19 restrictions. According to the arrest report, security and police pleaded with Savage for two hours to leave after visitation ended. Savage says she asked the supervising nurse to call the doctor that asked her to be there but says the nurse refused so she refused to leave.

“We’re not asking for anybody to bend the rules. We’re asking people to provide the same service to her that are provided to people without a handicap. The ADA ruled on that,” Savage said.

In other words, because her daughter can’t effectively communicate, she feels the nurse should have recognized that she is her daughter’s communicator. Amber Miller was only able to explain in one word what it was like when her mom was taken away in handcuffs.

“Stressful,” she told News4Jax.

Although the charges have been dropped, it’s still unclear if Savage is still banned from the hospital. Her daughter has to undergo another surgery.

News4Jax reached out to UF Health for a statement but we haven’t heard back yet.

Full Article & Source: 

Charge dropped for grandmother who refused to leave daughter’s side at hospital

EM woman sues accusers in elderly exploitation case

An East Moline woman accused of elderly exploitation in 2015 is suing her accusers for malicious prosecution.

Alice M. Hipes, 60, filed the lawsuit in Rock Island County Circuit Court against Alternatives for the Older Adult Inc., one of its employees and East Moline police officer Darren Gault.

Ms. Hipes was arrested in February 2015 and charged in Rock Island County with financial exploitation of an elderly person. The arrest stemmed from an East Moline Police Department investigation based off a tip received by Alternatives for the Older Adult.

Ms. Hipes claims Alternatives for the Older Adult employee Katie Judge "falsely alleged" to East Moline police that Ms. Hipes had "financially exploited more than $70,000 from Donald Kinchner," whom Ms. Hipes served as a caregiver for about ten years, according to the lawsuit.

Further investigation reduced the alleged exploited sum to $47,300, according to the lawsuit.

According to Dispatch•Argus archives, Ms. Judge told police she visited the alleged victim, a 92-year-old man, several times and that he smelled of urine and lived in "substandard" conditions, which included a limited supply of expired food.

Ms. Hipes had been hired to run errands and buy groceries for the man. In exchange, she received $800 per month, plus "whatever money" she needed for personal use, according to East Moline police.

Rock Island County prosecutors dropped charges against Ms. Hipes on April 8, 2016, after a judge blocked the use of a message recorded by Mr. Kinchner before his May 2015 death.

Prosecutors were not allowed to use the recorded message in a trial because it would have violated the defendant's right to cross examine all witnesses, according to the ruling.

Ms. Hipes' attorney told the Dispatch•Argus that no forensic accounting was done to investigate his client's case. He said after the investigator learned Mr. Kinchner paid his bills primarily in cash, the investigator subpoenaed bills and other financial statements, which accounted for the "vast majority" of the money alleged to be missing.

The lawsuit describes the harm Ms. Hipes suffered because of the case, saying she "sustained substantial damages to her reputation, severe emotional and mental distress" and "lost income from employment as a caregiver." Additionally, she was incarcerated in Rock Island County Jail, had her arrest publicized in local news outlets and was deprived of continuing her relationship with Mr. Kinchner.

Ms. Hipes is requesting damages in excess of $100,000.

Alternatives for the Older Adult was unable to comment on the litigation. East Moline Police Department said it does not agree with the allegations and will let the case play out in court.

Full Article & Source:
EM woman sues accusers in elderly exploitation case

Charges dropped against Miami-Dade judge

TALLAHASSEE -- The Miami-Dade judge set to face a criminal mischief trial for destroying a pickup truck using a metal pipe in June escaped prosecution after the charges were dropped.

Victoria Brennan, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge, was not charged for any criminal liability by the 20th Judicial Circuit. The decision came after the matter was initially placed in limbo when then Keys state attorney Catherine Vogel removed her office from the case. Due to her decision to recuse, Florida Gov. Rick Scott appointed Florida State Attorney Stephen Russell, the chief of the prosecutors in the 20th Judicial Circuit, to handle the case.

In the explanation she provided for her recusal, Vogel shared that she had a close relationship with Brennan in the past. According to the Keys state attorney, she and Brennan had worked together in the 1990s as Miami Dade County prosecutors. In addition, the defendant allegedly once dated one of the prosecutors in Vogel’s office.

Records show that no charges have been officially filed against Brennan. While the Monroe County deputies signed an arrest warrant against the judge, the pickup truck’s owner, Victor Garcia of Homestead, was convinced by Daniel Lurvey, the defendant’s lawyer, to not file charges anymore.

According to the agreement with Garcia, Brennan then paid for the damages caused to the vehicle.

“After a thorough investigation, Judge Brennan has been exonerated of any wrongdoing,” shared Lurvey in a statement via the Florida Keys News. “She was never arrested or charged and this matter is concluded.”

As for Garcia, the petitioner appears to be eager to put the incident behind him.

“It was random. She’s a judge. She took care of what she did. They paid more – more than what it was worth. I don’t really want to talk about it," Lurvey told the Miami Herald.

The matter started on June 28 when Brennan purportedly found “three drunk males” in her Key Largo home. They were later identified as the same people partying with her 17-year-old son, police reports state, who had been arrested for a hit-and-run incident and was detained at a Plantation Key jail.

When she asked the males to vacate the premises, they allegedly cursed at her and threatened her.

Garcia and his companions later on claimed that Brennan proceeded to smash the pickup truck parked outside using a metal pipe.

Despite the fact that the criminal charges have been dropped, Brennan remains in danger of facing potential breach of Florida judicial ethics procedure. Since a warrant had been signed for her arrest or surrender, the rules dictate that the judge should have properly informed her superiors and the defendants in her court about the criminal case she was involved with.

“Generally speaking, a judge who has an arrest warrant out there has no business on the criminal bench. The judge should have asked to be reassigned so there wasn’t even the appearance of impropriety,” explained Miami lawyer Michael Catalano.

Full Article & Source:
Charges dropped against Miami-Dade judge