Portsmouth Police Officers did their best to help an elderly dementia patient but couldn’t seem to get any help from local agencies even after a man called his mom a “dementia bitch” and taunted her over her memory loss.
Officers became aware of the situation around 4 in the morning when they responded to a domestic incident on Baird Avenue.
They learned that an elderly dementia patient hit her intoxicated son after he called her inappropriate names, including “dementia bitch.”
The son had provoked her by asking her to name who the president was and other items she couldn’t remember because he knew it frustrated her. Officers tried to contact another son, who had medical power of attorney, but couldn’t get in touch with him.
They did not want to leave the woman in an abusive situation, so they called Scioto County Jobs and Family Services, but no one was available due to it being the weekend. They tried the Adult Protective Services hotline but were transferred to the CPS line.
The CPS worker informed officers they only take reports for APS, they cannot come out on calls, and no one could investigate the complaint until Monday as APS doesn’t do weekend callouts. Officers were also informed the APS couldn’t make the son leave the home.
The agency suggested officers take the woman to SOMC and said they would call ahead to let the hospital know about the situation.
Officers persuaded the woman to go to the hospital, but when they arrived, they learned that APS had not informed the hospital staff of the situation. Police updated the staff and left the woman in medical personnel’s care.
