Disruptive Behavior

Remember Tent Guy – the guy who camped out in the vacant field across the street for a time?

He wasn’t friendly, didn’t like to be bothered, didn’t appreciate our looking out for him -- wanting to take food over, etc., but we still kept an eye out that he was okay.

He attended the same local church as some of our residents so, as posted in late 2015, when I’d not seen him for a while, I asked around and learned he’d been blessed with a car and was about to be blessed with shelter.

I guess he got shelter because residents reported seeing him all spiffy looking at church and I’d see him now and then getting out of his car at the market.

Here we are two years later and, all of a sudden, returning from the market yesterday, I see this.

I’d assumed it must be another guest. But no. It’s been verified as our old friend tent guy, he's back. Wonder what happened.

THEN, turning into the gate, I look over and see this.

Not one, but two police cars.

I hope they’re not here because someone complained about him, thought I.

They weren’t.

Remember last month when bingo was disrupted by Fire and Rescue pulling up in front of the Community Room? A senior was down -- the same senior that had previously been found wandering around, saying she was escaping from being abused.

Believe it or not, the cop cars were here for her, and you won’t believe why.

She was in a fight on the front lot ... a physical fist fight, with her caregiver no less. It is said one party was in the process of choking the other when the police arrived and separated them.

Don’t yet know the outcome of that but, late last night, there was a helicopter flying overhead, making an announcement. I couldn’t make out the announcement and, to tell you the truth, wasn’t much interested until the spotlight lit up the quad and my patio.

At that point, I got up, looked out the patio window. Seeing nothing, but wanting to make out the announcement, I stepped outside the door. It hit me later, that was not the smartest move as, had they been looking for an escaping criminal, he could have been hiding on my porch. At any rate, the helicopter police need a better sound system, because all I could make out sounded like Charlie Brown speak … Wah Wa Wa Wah Wa Wa.

The chopper and lights were over the property for only about five/ten minutes, so I went back to what I was doing and thought no more about it until picking up mail today. I’d entered through the Community Room, and seeing quite a few residents present, because it’s Pizza Tuesday, I asked, “Did anyone make out what last night’s helicopter people were saying.”

That would be yes.

They were searching the area trying to locate an elderly female who had wandered off and were asking the public to call 911 should she be spotted.

I'm thinking that by now you can guess where this is going … who the elderly female they were looking for might be. And, yes, it was she, the same woman who claimed she was escaping being abused, the same woman who had a physical fight with her caregiver.

The fact that she was in a fight makes me wonder who’s abusing who. Of course, I can’t say for sure, but my guess is the caregiver was trying to restrain her and ended up in a fight for her own life.

Can you imagine?

At any rate, the woman was found this morning.

No word on where, no word on how, no word on by whom. Last night was cold, so she's probably under medical observation.

I checked the newspaper, but find no mention of a missing elderly woman last night or today.

This community is designated as “Crime Free”, which means residents are vetted before being leased a unit, and problem troublemakers are subject to eviction. Even neighbor disputes have been resolved with, not who is right, not who is wrong, but with both parties being asked to leave. However, inasmuch as this resident is obviously ill, suffering some form of dementia, I don’t think the crime-free addendum to the lease applies, that management has any control over her running amok.

I've a feeling we've not seen or heard the last of cop cars, helicopters, spot lights.