Sheriff Pickell Discusses Elder Abuse

Throughout Genesee County, elder abuse seems to be rising and Sheriff Pickell talked about a couple of things they are working on to help these seniors who are being taken advantage of. Pickell talked about an incident that happened last week with a tree trimming company.

"There was an incident where a company came by an elderly woman's home and took down some branches and debris and charged her $1,975. She wrote an insufficient check and they came back and lifted her into the truck and took her to the bank. She was very frail and timid and withdrew the rest of the money she had and wrote the company another check."

The sheriff went on to say that this was the rest of her money and the woman's daughter called his office to see if there was anything they could do. With the help of the Elder Abuse Prevention organization, they were able to give back all of her money. The sheriff said it felt good to help this woman and said that's just a few things Elder Abuse Prevention works on.

Pickell also mentioned that seniors can come out and pick up fans outside the Genesee County jail on June 15.  The Elder Abuse Prevention organization will be on hand distributing to seniors who can't afford a fan. Last year they were able to hand out over 300 fans.