Posted on 05/25/2005 12:42:32 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - City officials here have opened an investigation into why authorities apparently ignored numerous complaints about a full-scale drug den being operated out of the apartment of an elderly woman who suffered from dementia.
Six alleged gang members took over the 84-year-old woman's apartment for months, even eating her free senior meals, police said after their arrests last week.
The woman's second-floor apartment in the city's Mission District was littered with drugs and crack pipes.
"This is one of the most egregious cases of elder abuse that I have ever seen," Trent Rhorer, executive director of the city's Human Services Department told the San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday.
One of his biggest concerns was that Ellen Gutierrez's city-funded care providers first suspected something was wrong last fall - yet alleged members of the Sureno gang apparently continued to run a drug operation out of her graffiti-covered apartment until just last week.
Gutierrez, who lived alone, was being cared for by the nonprofit In-Home Support Services Consortium, which has a contract with the city to provide for the needs of elderly, infirm people who wish to remain in their homes, Rhorer said.
One meal was delivered daily to Gutierrez by On Lok 30th Street Senior Services. Starting last fall, On Lok officials repeatedly called the nonprofit consortium to report that Gutierrez did not appear to be home and that young people were frequenting her apartment, said program director Valorie Villela.
For days, no one returned the calls, she said. Eventually, Villela did make contact and, according to police, the nonprofit called in the city's Adult Protective Services agency, which investigates reports of elder abuse.
Among other things, Adult Protective Services looked into why Gutierrez was not paying her utility bills and had stopped her phone service, Rhorer said. By February, the agency concluded that Gutierrez appeared be capable of caring for herself, he said.
On May 9, someone at In-Home Support Services complained to Adult Protective Services that meal service might be stopped because street people were living in her apartment and using it for illegal activity, according to police.
Police were not alerted about that complaint, investigators said.
Residents of the apartment building had called police 20 times to report shady activity and drug deals in the hallways, investigators said.
Police said they never saw any criminal activity at the building.
On May 13, two workers went to the apartment and were threatened. But In-Home Support Services waited until May 17 to file a police report, Rhorer said.
The next day, Adult Protective Services caseworkers went to Gutierrez's apartment and found people hiding the closet. Police summoned to the scene found drugs, paraphernalia and guns. Five adults and a 17-year-old boy were arrested and have been charged with elder abuse, residential burglary, among other gang-related offenses.
Gutierrez has been moved to another residence by the city's Adult Protective Services agency.
Go figure.
Well this was San Francisco, so I'm assuming the gang members were gay illegal aliens.
No harm, no foul.
The area must have been run by democrats. Republicans never would have let this happen.
Since this was San Francisco, I'm surprised the authorities didn't just euthanize the old lady to get her out of the way of poor deprived people who needed her space to carry on their lifestyle.
...LOL...
Yep it's all about the diversity...
House jacking...it was only a matter of time.
This story makes my blood boil. I am not trusting anyone to care for my mom when she needs it. She will be stuck with me. We take care of our own. No agencies.
Amen to your comments. The saddest part is, the woman was probably safer with a bunch of drug thugs than she would be in hospice, a nursing home, or under state medical "care."
Amen to your comments. The saddest part is, the woman was probably safer with a bunch of drug thugs than she would be in hospice, a nursing home, or under state medical "care."
I wonder if she was partying with them? Quite a story.
Must have been close to quitting time when this happened. May 13th was a Friday. You don't expect a worker to give up any part of their weekend to help a demented, elderly person, do you? /sarcasm
"...city-funded care providers first suspected something was wrong last fall..."
No complaint filed with police; can't help ya.
"Starting last fall, On Lok officials repeatedly called the nonprofit consortium..."
No complaints filed with police; can't help ya
"...the nonprofit called in the city's Adult Protective Services agency, which investigates reports of elder abuse."
No complaint filed with police; can't help ya.
"On May 9, someone at In-Home Support Services complained to Adult Protective Services..."
Not clear whther or not they also filed a complaint with police.
Residents filed 20 complaints with police...building a history about the place.
"On May 13, two workers went to the apartment and were threatened."
But their employer waited four days to file a complaint with police.
"The next day, Adult Protective Services caseworkers went to Gutierrez's apartment and found people hiding the closet."
First, they got lucky because none of the people in the closet decided to use any of the guns that were there. Then, they called the police who came and made the bust.
If On Lok, In-Home Support Services Consortium and the Adult Protective Services agency had involved police every time they saw things that were out-of-line, this bust might have gone down three months ago.
They didn't. It didn't.
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