CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — An
affidavit from the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office said William
Hartin was arrested after he was accused of elder abuse following a call
to 911 Tuesday night, where he was reportedly crying hysterically and
asking for resources to help care for his 92-year-old mother with
dementia.
An affidavit said Hartin told the operator that caring
for his mother was too much and that he needed help or he would
reportedly put her on the street, leaving her homeless.
Charlotte County deputies arrived at his home at Maple Leaf Golf and
Country Club on Kings Highway and found the older woman outside in a
wheelchair. It was less than 50 degrees, and she was cold. The woman
told deputies she was freezing and began to cry.
Sarah Gualco from
the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida emphasized the
importance of avoiding burnout and stress to prevent cases of elder
abuse.
"We want to avoid burnout. We want to avoid stress and ultimately prevent cases of elder abuse," Gualco said.
She noted that over 80% of the calls they receive are from individuals seeking funded long-term care services.
"I would say over 80% of calls we receive are individuals looking for funded long-term care services," Gualco said.
She added that their help is free and available through a hotline. HELPLINE: 866-413-5337
"We
can do what is available to help, create, basically, a safety net for
this family so that, you know, it doesn't result in a crisis or tragedy
like this," Gualco said.
Gualco explained that the agency acts as a
coordinated entry for state and federal services, including long-term
care services available through funded programs.
"We're kind of
like coordinated entry for some state and federal services, long-term
care services that are available through funded programs," she said.
She stressed the importance of knowing about their services before a crisis occurs.
"The
message we try to push out is know us before you need us. Because often
when individuals are in the midst of crisis, and they reach out, we
might not be able to respond as immediately as a crisis would require,"
Gualco said.
Plymouth, CA – A son faces elder abuse charges after allegedly
stealing from his mother and was later found hiding in a field in the
unincorporated area of Plymouth.
A report of a robbery on Wednesday, November 13th, at around 3:30
p.m., sent Amador County Sheriff’s deputies to a home in the
unincorporated area of Plymouth. Once on the scene, an elderly female
victim stated that her adult son forcibly took her purse and car keys
and drove off in her car. According to sheriff’s officials, the mother
was not injured in the scuffle with her son.
Deputies also learned that the unidentified suspect had returned the
vehicle and then fled on foot before they arrived. A record check
revealed that the suspect had a felony warrant out of Sacramento County
for auto theft.
Deputies began a search for the suspect and found him in a field,
about a mile from the residence. The suspect was arrested for felony
robbery, elder abuse, and his outstanding warrant.
John Amos has insisted "the love is still there" with his daughter, despite accusing her of "elderly abuse" over the summer.
In
June, the 83-year-old actor claimed Shannon Amos had "taken advantage"
of him after she claimed on Instagram he had been a "victim of elder
abuse and financial exploitation" before she filed a complaint with the
Colorado Bureau of Investigation and created a GoFundMe campaign asking
for "legal, medical, future housing, and care expenses", which he
ordered her to end as he insisted she was more of a problem to his
wellbeing than her brother, his son, K.C. Amos.
But
now, the 'Good Times' actor is hopeful they can repair their rift
eventually and he is keen for them all to have a "harmonious
relationship at some point".
John told People magazine in a
joint interview with filmmaker K.C.: "It is his sibling, that is my
daughter, my first child. I love her. K.C. loves his sister.
"We
just have, I guess, what might be best described in the tabloids is an
acrimonious relationship, but everything heals in time, and the love is
still there.
"All families go through trials and tribulations of some sort...
"Right
now, it is somewhat acrimonious, but never mind what you might read or
hear about in the paper or on this medium or that medium platform.
Suffice it to say we are still family, and we love each other, and
that's the bottom line."
At the time, concerns were
raised over John's health after Sharon claimed she had received a
"distressing call" from her father and he was a "victim of elder abuse
and financial exploitation."
But the veteran actor denied the claims and insisted he was "doing well".
He
said in a statement given to People: "To all of my fans, I want you to
know that I am doing well. I am not in ICU, nor was I ever fighting for
my life. First, I want the GoFundMe campaign about me to stop
immediately, and the funds subsequently returned to those who made
donations."
He later alleged in a video uploaded to Instagram by K.C. that Shannon was the one who had "taken advantage" of him.
He
said: "She would be the primary suspect — if you would. I don't know if
that's the right term to use or not. But she's the one that I would
attribute my elderly abuse to. It's definitely a case of elderly abuse."
In
response, a representative for Shannon said she was "disheartened at
the continuation of false and defamatory statements being made against
her."
The 'Good Times' actor accused daughter Shannon of "elderly abuse" last month
By Stephanie Wenger
John Amos’ son Kelly C. "K.C." Amos is facing legal trouble after allegedly making threats against his sister Shannon.
According to the complaint obtained by PEOPLE, K.C., 52, was arrested on
Saturday in West Orange, New Jersey after allegedly threatening to
“kill Shannon Amos with the purpose to put her in imminent fear of
death.”
The filing states that Shannon believed “the immediacy of the threat and
the likelihood that it would be carried out” after K.C. allegedly sent
her text messages with photos of firearms and gang affiliations. The
alleged threat made Shannon “fear for her life.”
Shannon claimed that K.C. sent her “terroristic threats” which included a
video of him shooting a handgun and showed authorities text messages
which read, "gonna sleep much better tonight big sis" attached to the
photo of the handgun. Another photo of a rifle was captioned, "that big
one can clean a turkey out from 3 football fields away,” according to
the filing.
In the complaint, she alleged that K.C. has bipolar disorder and she
“fears that he may carry out threats from messages sent through text and
is in fear for her life.”
Shannon also claimed to police that K.C. believed that she had hired a
person to kill him and he was retaliating because he thought his life
was in danger, per the filing.
PEOPLE has reached out to reps for John and Shannon. At this time, it is unclear if K.C. has retained legal representation.
The arrest comes a month after John, 83, claimed he was the victim of
"elderly abuse" at the hands of his daughter, Shannon. In a video shared
on social media by K.C., theGood Timesand Roots star made his allegations against Shannon, claiming that he felt she had "taken advantage" of him, even going so far as to set up a GoFundMe page for his "legal, medical, future housing, and care expenses." (The page has since been taken down.)
“She would be the primary suspect — if you would,”
John said, in a video filmed from his hospital bed as he made a phone
call. “I don’t know if that’s the right term to use or not. But she’s
the one that I would attribute my elderly abuse to. It’s definitely a
case of elderly abuse."
In the clip, John was asked by a caller on the phone — presumably from
law enforcement or from a legal team — about what problems he'd been
experiencing.
He responded by saying he was hospitalized due to "water retention and a
couple of other issues — all of which have been corrected, or at least
addressed." He also insisted that he was "very capable" and "very
confident" in his medical team — but his main concern was his daughter,
who he claimed had "taken advantage of me."
K.C.'s video cut off before John could go into further detail. "There
are many different aspects to this situation. It’s interesting how many
people have made a conclusion while we are still discovering new
elements every single day. 🤷🏾♂️,” K.C. captioned the clip, which was
posted to both TikTok and Instagram.
John's claim came after news broke that Shannon filed a complaint
alleging that her father was "the victim of elder abuse, neglect, and
financial exploitation."
In response to the claims against her, a representative for Shannon told
PEOPLE, "Ms. Amos is disheartened at the continuation of false and
defamatory statements being made against her by, or on behalf of, or in
connection with news reports based on social media posts by Mr. Kelly
K.C. Amos. ... She is exploring all legal remedies available to her. Ms.
Amos hopes this matter will be resolved soon through the proper
authorities."
In a statement to PEOPLE at the time, John addressed the video K.C.
shared and told his fans that he was "not in the distressed condition as
described in the GoFundMe page," and was "doing well."
Shannon initially shared her concerns about her father in a lengthy Instagram caption
on June 8. She alleged she received "a distressing call" from him,
informing her that he was in the hospital "in immense pain" and "hanging
by a thread" in the ICU.
She went on to claim that "his home had been violated, striped of
anything valuable," and that she was "collaborating with the Colorado
Bureau of Investigations and local authorities, determined to bring the
perpetrators to justice."
John has since disputed his daughter's claims, telling PEOPLE in a
statement that "I am not in ICU, nor was I ever fighting for my life."
"To all of my fans, I want you to know that I am doing well." he said.
"First, I want the GoFundMe campaign about me to stop immediately and
the funds subsequently returned to those who made donations. My son and I
will reveal more information at the appropriate time."
Anthony Morgan is accused of neglect in the death of his elderly mother
Mary Morgan at this house on Hillcrest Drive in North Augusta.
by Greg Rickabaugh
A North Augusta man ignored injuries to his 88-year-old mother, leading to her death, authorities said Friday.
Anthony Morgan, 45, was charged Friday with abuse or neglect –
leading to death of a vulnerable adult. The victim is his 88-year-old
mother, Mary Alice Morgan, who died March 14 at the family home on
Hillcrest Drive, Coroner Darryl Ables said.
Authorities found an unclean home when they responded to her death a
4:16 p.m. that day. The woman was found in her bedroom, and her body
showed signs of neglect. An autopsy showed she died of septic shock, a life-threatening condition that happens when your blood pressure drops to a dangerously low level after an infection.
“It was due to her injuries that were not taken care of,” Ables said.
“This lady was not able to care for herself … and care was not given.”
Police said they will release a report on the death Monday, said Lt.
Junior Johnson with the North Augusta Department of Public Safety.
RENO –Two days before he absconded with his
dementia-stricken, 80-year-old mother from an Alzheimer’s care facility
in northwest Reno, Roger Hillygus eagerly showed a Review-Journal
reporter a “jury verdict” that he said would make it all legit.
The document was a sham.
By the end of the following week, Hillygus
was in custody in California on kidnapping charges; his mother found
safe with him. A second man, a former county sheriff, had been charged
as an accomplice in the abduction, despite telling Reno police he knew
nothing of Hillygus’s intentions. His arrest and alleged involvement, as
a former top county cop, propelled the case into the national
headlines, garnering media attention as far away as New York.
Meanwhile, the “verdict” document, which
Hillygus had submitted multiple times in his mother’s ongoing
guardianship case, held no legal weight. He had obtained it online from a
citizen’s rights group in Arizona.
Hillygus took his mother, Susan Hillygus,
without a confrontation from the Stone Valley Alzheimer’s Special Care
Center where she lived on Aug. 8. Two days before, a reporter ran into
him by chance, along with the lawman, Stewart Handte, whose 30-year law
enforcement career included a stint as Mineral County sheriff. Handte,
at Hillygus’s request, was one of two men who went with Hillygus to the
care center. After about an hour there, Hillygus left with his mother,
later calling the center to say he was not returning.
As events unfolded over the next week,
Handte communicated daily with the reporter, repeatedly recounting that
day’s events along with day-to-day updates, including his discussions
with, and later interrogation by, Reno police, as authorities searched
for Hillygus and his mother. A “Silver Alert” — similar to the Amber
alerts posted on electronic highway signs in cases of missing or
abducted children — was posted in the Reno area on Friday, the day after
Hillygus fled the area.
“The FBI’s gonna be coming for me soon,”
Handte sardonically told the reporter that afternoon, before recounting
the previous day’s events at the care facility.
On that score, he would prove about half-right.
Long-running custody battle
The one-page document Hillygus thought would
cover him, obtained by the Review-Journal from the court file, was his
latest legal ploy to win back custody of his mother and control of the
family trust that paid for her care. Whether he knew it was worthless is
not yet clear, but Hillygus, in that Aug. 6 conversation with the
reporter, said it would legitimately restore him as his mother’s
guardian, a status he had been stripped of in a long-running
guardianship dispute with his sister.
A review of the court docket in his mother’s
custody case shows he had submitted the document multiple times since
July, the last time on Aug. 8, the day he fled with her.
The reporter had met Hillygus in passing
earlier in June at a Reno law office. Handte had met Hillygus through a
mutual acquaintance at the law office a few months prior. Hillygus
alleged to the reporter that guardianship of his mother had been
effectively stolen from him in legal proceedings and he was fighting to
regain it. He said he was a victim of a conspiracy involving lawyers,
judges, a private guardian and his sister, who wanted to control the
family trust that paid for his mother’s care.
Such incidents, where people lose
guardianship to unscrupulous third-parties in the courts, do happen,
usually when a large estate or trust is involved. The Review-Journal is
among the media outlets that have written about the issue. The paper’s reporting
prompted the state Legislature, in 2015 and again this year, to tighten
licensing procedures for private guardians in the state. Hillygus in
fact contacted the Review-Journal reporter who wrote the stories in the
spring of 2018, hoping to get coverage for his plight.
A review of Susan Hillygus’ five-year-old
guardianship case shows her son filed motion after motion accusing the
judge, lawyers, court-appointed guardians and his sister of conspiring
against him. Multiple lawyers asked to be replaced as his attorney. He
filed so many frivolous and defamatory motions in the case that the
opposing lawyer sought to have him declared a “vexatious litigant.”
After repeatedly failing to heed court orders or follow through on
pledges he made, the judge in the case removed him as guardian in
December 2015.
More recently, Hillygus, representing
himself, filed an action in U.S. District Court alleging all manner of
wrongdoing in the guardianship proceedings. His case was thrown out in
December, and again on appeal in June.
Plan to take mother to California
Hillygus, on the Tuesday before he took his
mother, told the reporter and Handte he would show the care center the
document. The Review-Journal later obtained a copy from the guardianship
court file. Hillygus said he planned to take her to California, later
telling Handte that his mother had a brother living there and that he
hoped to establish residency there himself.
Hillygus, 52, who is married and lives in
Dayton, said he would undertake the trip despite having fallen off a
second-story roof at his contracting job a few weeks earlier, suffering
several broken ribs, clavicle and a head injury that knocked him out
cold. He had asked Handte to go with him to the care center. A third man
would join them, videotaping with his phone if things got out of hand,
according to Handte’s account to the reporter and police.
Handte, 59, had his doubts about Hillygus’s
strategy, but he was also sympathetic. As he had told the reporter once
in an earlier casual conversation, he had been involved in a similar
custody fight with relatives several years earlier when his mother took
ill and died.
During a 30-year career in Nevada law
enforcement, Handte served in the state Highway Patrol, twice as a
deputy in Storey County, and most recently, as chief of two tribal
police forces, the Yomba Shoshone Tribe in Austin, and more recently,
the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. He was forced out of the Reno-Sparks job
in June after just seven months, prior to the Hillygus matter, and is
currently trying to win either reinstatement for wrongful dismissal or a
severance settlement.
A few days before the abduction, according
to Handte, he called Reno Police Chief Jason Soto asking that the
department get involved and speak to Hillygus. Soto was out of town in
Washington. Reno Police Cmdr. Oliver Miller called Handte back, telling
him that Hillygus had been in touch with the department before.
The morning of the abduction, Hillygus met
with Reno Police Sgt. Robin Hannafin. Hillygus was told police
considered his case a civil matter and would not get involved. Hillygus
took Hannafin’s card, which he gave to Handte a few hours later, shortly
after 2 p.m., when they met outside the care center. He told Handte
what Reno police told him about not getting involved. Handte said he
asked if police gave any other guidance. Hillygus said no.
The Review-Journal on Monday asked to speak
to Cmdr. Miller. The department declined to make him available.
Detective Lt. Zack Thew said Miller “is part of the investigative
process and has documented his contact in the police report.”
“I can confirm that there was some contact
with the police department beforehand, but not the specific details of
what that contact was,” Thew said.
The apartment complex in
Bellflower, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, where Roger Hillygus went
with his mother, Susan, after taking her from her Reno care facility.
(Peter Bennett/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A quiet departure
Handte met Hillygus and a third man – known
to Handte only by his first name, Tracy – outside the care center about
2:15 p.m.. They spoke for about 15 minutes outside before Hillygus and
Handte entered, according to Handte. Hillygus had mentioned an earlier
confrontation at the center on a previous visit, and Handte said that if
center staff objected to his presence or stopped him for any reason,
they would leave immediately.
Handte said he entered the facility with
Hillygus, who initially asked to see another woman. After a few minutes,
he came back to the lobby where Handte had remained. The third man
remained outside. Handte said he later identified the third man to Reno
police when detectives showed him a picture from the body cam footage
recorded when Hillygus spoke to police.
Hillygus asked to see his mother and a male
attendant took him to her, Handte said. After about 10 minutes, Hillygus
returned to the lobby with her. They remained in the lobby for five or
10 minutes when Hillygus asked his mother if she wanted to go for a
ride. She said yes, and they exited the building with no objection or
intervention by staff, according to Handte. They walked across the
parking lot, Susan Hillygus shuffling her feet and holding her son’s
arm, according to Handte, who walked ahead of them.
Roger Hillygus put his mother in the front
seat and fastened her seat belt. He told Handte he was taking her home
to Dayton. The third man, Tracy, asked Handte for a ride back to his
car, which he had left at a McDonald’s in Sun Valley, about 10 miles
away.
Some of the details from Handte’s account
are mentioned in the statement Hillygus’s sister wrote in a court filing
seeking a protection order after the abduction. Unlike Handte’s
account, however, her statement says a witness saw Susan Hillygus being
“dragged” to her son’s car.
Staff at the facility on Friday referred the
Review-Journal to upper management regarding questions about the
incident. Erin Peacock, a spokeswoman for Stone Valley’s parent company,
Sunshine Retirement Living of Bend, Ore., said Monday the company
“can’t provide any kind of input or answer any questions because we
don’t want to jeopardize the investigation.”
After leaving, Handte said he called
Hillygus and told him he needed to give the center the paperwork he had
brought along. Later, according to the sister’s court filing, Hillygus
faxed the sham paperwork to the center, told them he held health care
power of attorney for his mother, and was not returning her.
Police get involved
Handte dropped Tracy off and went home.
About 11 p.m., Miller, the Reno police commander, called Handte, asking
where Roger Hillygus was.
Handte told Miller he didn’t know. He spoke
to Reno police several times in the coming days, relaying the same
details about the visit he had told the reporter. But Reno police began
to doubt his story and challenged his version of events, he said. He had
thought Hillygus was taking his mother to Dayton, his home, but
recalled Hillygus telling him about his mother’s brother in California,
and his interest in becoming a California resident.
That brother’s apartment in the Los Angeles
suburb of Bellflower ultimately is where police found Hillygus and his
mother one week after he walked her out of the care center unchallenged.
The 85-year-old brother’s 80-year-old girlfriend, Wilma Dester, who
managed the 16-unit, two-story apartment complex where they lived, told a Los Angeles TV station that the pair showed up last week and that Roger Hillygus had dutifully cared for his mother during their stay.
Dester told the TV station she did not
realize Hillygus was being sought until police knocked on her door
around 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15. A seven-hour standoff ensued until
Hillygus, according to media reports from the scene, nodded off about 2
a.m. He was arrested and booked into a Los Angeles county jail, where he
is being held without bail. Susan Hillygus was unharmed. Her current
whereabouts could not be determined Monday.
The bedroom where Roger Hillygus stayed with his mother, Susan. (Peter Bennett/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Friend interrogated, arrested
Handte had fared only slightly better. On
the Tuesday following the abduction, he was interrogated by Detective
Allison Jenkins and other Reno police officers for more than two hours.
He surrendered his cellphone to them. He had tried to reach Hillygus by
phone and text, but Hillygus wasn’t responding.
On Wednesday, the day before Hillygus was
found, police arrested Handte outside the Reno law office where he’d
gone to discus his employment complaint. He was charged with
second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy, both serious felonies.
Handte, speaking to Reno police by phone
Wednesday, was told he was getting his phone back that day. According to
witnesses at the law office and to those who spoke to him after his
arrest, Handte went out to the law-office parking lot when he was met by
a half-dozen officers in tactical gear.
“What the hell, Stew? What the f–– are you
doing?” one yelled. As he was being handcuffed, another told him to
“stop struggling or I’ll take you to the f–ing ground.” An officer then
entered the law office to get Handte’s wallet. When a paralegal asked
for the officer’s business card, the officer refused.
Thew, the Reno police lieutenant, said
Monday the manner of Handte’s arrest “was a tactical decision based on
circumstances that were presented at the time.”
Following his arrest Wednesday, police let Handte use his previously confiscated phone.
“I’m actually in custody and being detained
right now,” he texted in a reply to the reporter shortly after 5 p.m.
The reporter texted back to confirm, doubting that someone under arrest
would be given use of his cellphone.
“No. … I actually have it if you can believe
that,” Handte wrote. Twenty minutes later, he texted that he was being
charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
“This is nuts,” he wrote. “Going to jail now.”
Stewart Handte, a former
Mineral County sheriff, charged last week as an accomplice in the
abduction of an elderly woman from a Reno Alzheimer's care facility on
Aug. 8 by her son. He was photographed Monday in Reno. (Bill Dentzer/Las
Vegas Review-Journal)
The reporter asked again why Handte still had his phone. This time, Handte did not respond.
Arrest becomes news
It took about 24 hours for news of Handte’s
arrest as an alleged accomplice to get picked up by the media, the
headlines focusing on his law enforcement background. Handte was being
held without bail at the Washoe County jail – housed in the infirmary,
apart from the general population. His police mugshot joined photos of
Hillygus and his mother that accompanied the news stories.
On Thursday, a few hours before Hillygus was
found, Handte was released without having to post bail, despite facing
Class A and Class B felonies. He has a court appearance scheduled for
Aug. 29.
Following his release, Handte has declined
to speak further publicly because of the charges pending against him. He
did consent to having his photo taken, confirmed he was still seeking a
lawyer and said he feared his arrest would end his career in law
enforcement.
