Posted on 09/24/2007 5:27:48 PM PDT by decimon
DeLAND, Fla. -- A 91-year-old World War II veteran spent eight days in jail after being accused of threatening his caregiver who apparently refused to let him take a walk around his assisted-living facility.
William Kepler was arrested at Deerfoot Manor Alf, an assisted-living home in DeLand, after an incident involving his nurse.
DeLand police were called to the facility, and Kepler was arrested after police said he refused to obey their commands.
Kepler said officers used excessive force on him during the incident.
After eight days in custody, James Floyd, who did not know Kepler, paid a $6,000 bond and took him into his own home.
"There is no excuse for what they did to him, especially when he did not show a firearm or pull a firearm or pull a weapon," Floyd said. "They just flat took him down."
Floyd said he bailed the 91-year-old out of jail because it upset him that he was behind bars.
"This man here, he fought for his country. He fought for me. He fought for you. That's why we're here. If it wasn't for him, this would be a messed up place. It tears me up," Floyd said.
Kepler admitted that he had a fake gun on his person but said he never pulled it out, according to the Local 6 News report.
"They should have an ethical (manager) in there watching them and correcting them. They are plenty wrong," Kepler said of the assisted-living home. "They need a legitimate, honest person to guide them because they're crooks."
The DeLand Police Department said any force was used because they said Kepler did not obey to their commands.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Is the wound on his forehead a result of the excessive force? GeezeLouseeeez!!!
Unless they truly believed he had a real gun. This does seem mishandled, though.
Most assisted living facilities have very little tolerance for any resident who gets violent, or even a little uppity. My mother-in-law pushed a nurse who was trying to get her to do something and they sent her to a psych hospital to get her meds “adjusted”. They like them drugged up and passive.
I think it's the training. If they consistently follow a set procedure then they minimize the risk of litigation.
A no-account person, needing some sort of power over other people, no matter how unjust or pathetic... “I was scared...”
Well, “nurse”, whoever you think you are, you should be scared. Life will catch up with you sooner or later. Are you prepared to meet your maker? I think not. I suspect that you just didn’t like what the old guy had to say about you and your care. At least I had caring parents who gave me the usual crap, so I wouldn’t be caught unaware.
better than booty call.
I am generally pro-LEO, but between tasering handcuffed women and brutality against 91 year old men, I’m starting to wonder what the hell is going on.
Threaten to do what? Something in his pants?
When I'm 91, I won't threaten nurses. (But, I will chase 'em.)
Careful! They'll jail you for "sexual harassment"!
I need quite a few more facts before coming to any kind of conclusion on this story.
Problem is you are going to a nurse like this:
.
My husband was a 50 year old mentally ill man on oxygen. He became irrational and violent and I called the police to help me get him to the hospital. He fought me for the phone. He didn’t really hurt me, but we did have a tussle.
When the police came, they instead hauled him off to jail, and reported us to DCF. I kept telling them he needed his meds, and they ignored me. He eventually had to stay over 2 months in the hospital because his levels were driven so low.
I had to pay a lawyer to get him out, and my kids were terrified. I can’t tell you the burden it put on my family. I actually sent my youngest out of state for a few weeks because he was so terrified that the police would take him away.
To this day my kids do not like the police.
I don’t know what has happened to this country that young children are being put in jail for drawing a picture of a gun or doing homeschool experiments. And old, probably irrational folks ditto. It’s the overreaching of the state. It’s frightening.
I second that.
Nobody is trained to think for themselves anymore. It’s too risky. Nowdays you get fired for forgetting to put on your safety glasses and earplugs. The rules are such no one wants to take responsibility for anything.
What a F* up world this is.
My daddy was a pistol, I'm a son of a gun.
Don't know why I said that. Just came to me.
sounds like Florida is becoming a charicature of itself.
One more time, folks. Florida is becoming a caricature of itself.
YES! Please explain the marks on his face!!
This is truly disturbing. Our police forces, TSA, arlines, school boards, city council, Congress etc. etc. etc. (even down to Homeowners’ Associations) are taught to be sensitive to friggin peanut allergies, dodgeball, Halloween, Christmas, and imagined hate crimes.
Sensitivity Training in the workplace? Check. Got that base covered too.
Apparently, these “sensitive groups” aren’t aware of those with Alzheimers. Depending upon the patient, their behavior will vary, but most is derived from confusion or disorientation. The man clearly was not dangerous. He simply didn’t follow rules. Whoop-dee-do.
Most of these “enforcers” probably have kids who don’t follow the rules who don’t get jail time.
Instead of every company and govt. agency imposing sensitivity and tolerance training on everyone for every imagined “diss” ... perhaps it’s time that we learn to recognize the signs of Alzheimers. And take some time and patience.
I think there are a few groups you are still free to bash without an ACLU lawsuit:
Old people (some w/Alzheimers)
Christians
Home Schoolers
Rich people
Corporations
Please feel free to add to this list.
“...did they forget to charge up their Tasers?”
He wasn’t in a wheelchair.
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