Nextdoor post digresses to discussing violence but it was about lost elderly man with tardive dyskinesia
Originally posted on May 07, 2022
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Last edited/updated July 25, 2024.
This discussion was one of the reasons that I had to give up my nextdoor.com account. The only one dissenting (but usually not entirely) is me but the young people are frightened of this old man who can barely walk. It's all so tragic!
The plain text of the comments.
Northglenn - 3 days ago
An older man with a knife in his hand just showed up on our front porch, rang the doorbell, and sat in our porch rocker. It is now 12:45am. The cops have already came to get him. He is an escapee from the assisted living around the corner. We are parents of a 5 year old who was sleeping when all of this happened. There's been crazy things going on in the neighborhood for the past month. Stay vigilant, neighbors!
Pearl Street, Northglenn, CO
Posted in Safety to Anyone
64 Comments
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Jennifer R-
Northglenn
We’re in the same area. That’s super creepy! What other weirdness have you noticed?
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Ariel -
- Northglenn Author
Jennifer
We hear yelling and screaming all the time. People running down the street at odd hours of the night. There was a young girl who would meet her drug dealer at Stukey Elementary. My kids used to play at the playground there and saw her numerous times in the daylight. I haven't seen her in a while. My home security has caught people running from houses across the street once the sensor lights turn on. Just weird stuff you wouldn't expect at midnight to one in the morning.
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Karen - - Carbone
- Northglenn
I’m around the corner in senior housing and we’ve had people sleeping in bushes, got my car broken into and 2 nights ago a truck got their catalytic converter stolen .
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Jeff F-
- Broomfield, CO
Karen
wow the catconvert being stolen is insane meth head theres valuable materials inside which is why there so expensive
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Deanna R-
- Thornton
He most likely has a form of dementia. Thank you for calling the police, so they could take him back home.
The plain text of the comments.
Ariel -
- Northglenn Author
Deanna
We knew something wasn't right. The police handled it very well without causing any additional stress to the situation.
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Amoz E-
- Woodglen
Do you have video or pics so we can keep an eye out?
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Kathy E-
- Broomfield, CO
Keep a eye out for what. The man or his family doesn't need his picture on nextdoor.
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Betty L.
• Globeville
Amoz
I agree. He was walking around with a knife.
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Dore F-
- Broomfield, CO
At a time of a persons life when dementia sets in, they are living in a different world and do not hear or see the same things we do. Getting him back to his care facility was important. I have to wonder about the security at the care facility.
My grandmother was never able to just walk out the door in the middle of the night.
That would have given me a big scare. Having these people well cared for is important.
Even with dementia, they can sense when they are not being taken care of.
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Kyla M-
- Croke Park
Dore
those were my thoughts how did he just walk out with know one seeing him. That's scary!!. I'm just glad he was able to get back safe,thanks to Ariel and her family.
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Ben C-
- Huron Green
Didn't realize that elderly people in an assisted living facility where prisoners who then become "escapees" should they leave.
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Robin J.
- The Ranch Filing 3
Ben, it sounds like this man should be living in a secure memory support area of the ALF. Folks who have advanced dementia/advanced Alzheimer's are safest in a secure environment. These are secure to protect them from wandering out into traffic, getting into a car with a stranger, etc. "Regular" assisted living (non-dementia living) is very different, and people may come and go as they please, the same freedom that you and I enjoy.
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Robin J.
- The Ranch Filing 3
Unfortunately, middle- and late-stage dementia is often accompanied with paranoia (and likely, hence, the knife in this man's case), and people in this stage may become fearful, aggressive, etc., as a means of self-protection from dangers that the rest of us do not see (but that are VERY real to them). Sadly, folks in this particular stage/these particular symptoms may be shot and killed by law enforcement who mistakenly identify them as criminals/people engaging in criminal or violent behavior. Again, being in a secure environment protects them from these types of outcomes. I hope this helps :)
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Michelle G-
- Woodglen
Which means he will be moved to a nursing home more than likely if he did this.
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Harriett D-
- Broomfield, CO
Sounds like he needs more than “assisted living”!
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Paul S-
- North County
Assisted does not secure the individual in the premises, they only provide living and certain assistance. He may have been scared and disoriented. You did the right thing. Hopefully they sent understanding police.
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Robert -
- Northglenn, CO
How often have they sent non understanding police?
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Michelle G-
- Woodglen
Which means he will be moved to a nursing home more than likely if he did this.
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Harriett D-
- Broomfield, CO
Sounds like he needs more than “assisted living”!
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Paul S-
- North County
Assisted does not secure the individual in the premises, they only provide living and certain assistance. He may have been scared and disoriented. You did the right thing. Hopefully they sent understanding police.
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Robert -
- Northglenn, CO
How often have they sent non understanding police?
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Teresa H-
- Locust St
They stillk have to sign out. Or are supposed to. And doors lock at a certain time. I work in one(edited)
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Heidi H-
- Thornton, CO
I think some of us in Colorado don't necessarily trust police with older folks with dementia after seeing what happened in Loveland. They're not necessarily trained to deal with noncompliant folks who can't help that they're noncompliant.
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David T.
- Westminster, CO
We need to arm ourselves!
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Gary M-
- Broomfield, CO
No, you really don't. But you are free to of course. This sort of paranoid "where's my gun?!", "arm yourselves", or "you should've shot them!" mentality is very unhealthy. We need a kinder, more compassionate society, not a better armed one.
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David T.
- Westminster, CO
Gary
until someone breaks into your home, I guess you could kindly ask them not to kill you.
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Gary M-
- Broomfield, CO
You are 896 times more likely to have your gun stolen by a burglar than you are to stop a burglary with a gun. Turns out that owning guns is a leading cause of arming bad guys.
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Gary M-
- Broomfield, CO
"In the wake of the Sandy Hook killings, many people called for the arming of school personal and an increase in gun ownership, so researchers from Boston University investigated the relationship between gun ownership and gun homicides from 1981-2010 in all 50 states. They said they found a "robust correlation" between the two factors.
In a statement by Michael Siegel, a Boston University professor of community health sciences, reported in LiveScience, he said: "This research is the strongest to date to document that states with higher levels of gun ownership have disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides.""
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Lee C-
- Broomfield, CO
I have always been curious what the difference in the per-capita homicide rate is throughout history between the U.S:A. and countries that have many restrictions on firearm ownership. I'm thinking of countries like Russia and China whose governments directly killed many of their citizens.
The plain text of the comments.
David T.
- Westminster, CO
Gary
until someone breaks into your home, I guess you could kindly ask them not to kill you.
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Gary M-
- Broomfield, CO
You are 896 times more likely to have your gun stolen by a burglar than you are to stop a burglary with a gun. Turns out that owning guns is a leading cause of arming bad guys.
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Gary M-
- Broomfield, CO
"In the wake of the Sandy Hook killings, many people called for the arming of school personal and an increase in gun ownership, so researchers from Boston University investigated the relationship between gun ownership and gun homicides from 1981-2010 in all 50 states. They said they found a "robust correlation" between the two factors.
In a statement by Michael Siegel, a Boston University professor of community health sciences, reported in LiveScience, he said: "This research is the strongest to date to document that states with higher levels of gun ownership have disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides.""
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Lee C-
- Broomfield, CO
I have always been curious what the difference in the per-capita homicide rate is throughout history between the U.S:A. and countries that have many restrictions on firearm ownership. I'm thinking of countries like Russia and China whose governments directly killed many of their citizens.
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Gary M-
- Broomfield, CO
A better comparison would be to other westernized countries, but here's some data for reference:
worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/murder-rate-by-country
As an example, we have roughly 4 times the murder rate of the UK.
The plain text of the comments. The term "mentally ill" is introduced in second comment listed here:
(Note: first comment listed here is not in screencapture)
Kristie W-
- Thornton
It really is not any ones fault so sad he got out but he has dementia he is not a drug addict or low life hes an old man with dementia sad he had the knife thats a bit crazy but you did the right thing calling the police and getting him back home. hopefully he gets in a locked facility so he can not wonder off hurt himself or someone elese.My best friends husband has dementia very sad was a very prominent ,smart,
awsome artist ,very succesful man
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Ildiko B-
- Northglenn
He was come to my house first and banging on my door and sit on my front porch,I yelled I’m calling the cops and he get up and went to your house. He was also mentally ill!
I saw from my window when the cops come luckily very quickly.
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Ildiko B-
- Northglenn
Dore
you can tell just looking at him and the way he was acting.
ring.com/share/d1abc413-63b8-4d55-b376-932572d37f2d
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Cindy C-
- Old Thornton
Dore
I'm guessing you watched the video by now.
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Kristie W-
- Thornton
do not judge it seems like every thing that happens people label as mentally ill or drug addicts not always true
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Scott H-
- Elyria Swansea
His uncontrollable movements is most likely a side effect of medication and not "mental illness" in itself.
(The coroner in Adams County wrote in Elijah McClain's autopsy report that he might've had undiagnosed "mental illness" and that was to help the Aurora Police cover up the fact that they totally screwed up when they tried to stop him. The one officer should of got out of her car and got in front of him to shine a light in his face to force him to stop but she was busy being incompetent.)
It's convenient to have a way to scapegoat vulnerable disadvantaged people who've might've suffered trauma.
"tardive dyskinesia" article at clevelandclinic.org
Plato - Republic - BOOK VII
And now I will describe in a figure the enlightenment or unenlightenment of our nature:—Imagine human beings living in an underground den which is open towards the light; they have been there from childhood, having their necks and legs chained, and can only see into the den. At a distance there is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners a raised way, and a low wall is built along the way, like the screen over which marionette players show their puppets. Behind the wall appear moving figures, who hold in their hands various works of art, and among them images of men and animals, wood and stone, and some of the passers-by are talking and others silent.
"A strange parable," he said, "and strange captives." They are ourselves, I replied; and they see only the shadows of the images which the fire throws on the wall of the den; to these they give names, and if we add an echo which returns from the wall, the voices of the passengers will seem to proceed from the shadows. Suppose now that you suddenly turn them round and make them look with pain and grief to themselves at the real images; will they believe them to be real? Will not their eyes be dazzled, and will they not try to get away from the light to something which they are able to behold without blinking? And suppose further, that they are dragged up a steep and rugged ascent into the presence of the sun himself, will not their sight be darkened with the excess of light? Some time will pass before they get the habit of perceiving at all; and at first they will be able to perceive only shadows and reflections in the water; then they will recognize the moon and the stars, and will at length behold the sun in his own proper place as he is. Last of all they will conclude:—This is he who gives us the year and the seasons, and is the author of all that we see. How will they rejoice in passing from darkness to light! How worthless to them will seem the honours and glories of the den!
But now imagine further, that they descend into their old habitations;—in that underground dwelling they will not see as well as their fellows, and will not be able to compete with them in the measurement of the shadows on the wall; there will be many jokes about the man who went on a visit to the sun and lost his eyes, and if they find anybody trying to set free and enlighten one of their number, they will put him to death, if they can catch him.
Now the cave or den is the world of sight, the fire is the sun, the way upwards is the way to knowledge, and in the world of knowledge the idea of good is last seen and with difficulty, but when seen is inferred to be the author of good and right—parent of the lord of light in this world, and of truth and understanding in the other. He who attains to the beatific vision is always going upwards; he is unwilling to descend into political assemblies and courts of law; for his eyes are apt to blink at the images or shadows of images which they behold in them—he cannot enter into the ideas of those who have never in their lives understood the relation of the shadow to the substance. But blindness is of two kinds, and may be caused either by passing out of darkness into light or out of light into darkness, and a man of sense will distinguish between them, and will not laugh equally at both of them, but the blindness which arises from fulness of light he will deem blessed, and pity the other; or if he laugh at the puzzled soul looking at the sun, he will have more reason to laugh than the inhabitants of the den at those who descend from above.
There is a further lesson taught by this parable of ours. Some persons fancy that instruction is like giving eyes to the blind, but we say that the faculty of sight was always there, and that the soul only requires to be turned round towards the light. And this is conversion; other virtues are almost like bodily habits, and may be acquired in the same manner, but intelligence has a diviner life, and is indestructible, turning either to good or evil according to the direction given. Did you never observe how the mind of a clever rogue peers out of his eyes, and the more clearly he sees, the more evil he does? Now if you take such an one, and cut away from him those leaden weights of pleasure and desire which bind his soul to earth, his intelligence will be turned round, and he will behold the truth as clearly as he now discerns his meaner ends.
And have we not decided that our rulers must neither be so uneducated as to have no fixed rule of life, nor so over-educated as to be unwilling to leave their paradise for the business of the world? We must choose out therefore the natures who are most likely to ascend to the light and knowledge of the good; but we must not allow them to remain in the region of light; they must be forced down again among the captives in the den to partake of their labours and honours. "Will they not think this a hardship?" You should remember that our purpose in framing the State was not that our citizens should do what they like, but that they should serve the State for the common good of all. May we not fairly say to our philosopher,—Friend, we do you no wrong; for in other States philosophy grows wild, and a wild plant owes nothing to the gardener, but you have been trained by us to be the rulers and kings of our hive, and therefore we must insist on your descending into the den. You must, each of you, take your turn, and become able to use your eyes in the dark, and with a little practice you will see far better than those who quarrel about the shadows, whose knowledge is a dream only, whilst yours is a waking reality. It may be that the saint or philosopher who is best fitted, may also be the least inclined to rule, but necessity is laid upon him, and he must no longer live in the heaven of ideas. And this will be the salvation of the State.
For those who rule must not be those who are desirous to rule; and, if you can offer to our citizens a better life than that of rulers generally is, there will be a chance that the rich, not only in this world’s goods, but in virtue and wisdom, may bear rule. And the only life which is better than the life of political ambition is that of philosophy, which is also the best preparation for the government of a State. ~The Republic, by Plato - Project Gutenberg
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Oh, "Only the gov't can violate people's rights..." argument? See page 8 of this article on Stanford Law website:
"We want and are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens: The right to earn a living at work for which we are fitted by training and ability; equal opportunities in education, health, recreation, and similar public services; the right to vote; equality before the law; some of the same courtesy and good manners that we ourselves bring to all human relations."
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The biggest danger to our rights today is not from government acting against the will of the majority
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Wrong will be done as much by an all-powerful people as by an all-powerful prince.
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Class conflict is another concept which upsets the oppressors, since they do not wish to consider themselves an oppressive class. Unable to deny, try as they may, the existence of social classes, they preach the need for understanding and harmony between those who buy and those who are obliged to sell their labor. However, the unconcealable antagonism which exists between the two classes makes this "harmony" impossible. ~ Paulo Freire
Because it is a distortion of being more fully human, sooner or later being less human leads the oppressed to struggle against those who made them so. In order for this struggle to have meaning, the oppressed must not, in seeking to regain their humanity (which is a way to create it), become in turn oppressors of the oppressors, but rather restorers of the humanity of both. ~ Paulo Freire
"Only a lively appreciation of dissent's vital function at all levels of society can preserve it as a corrective to wishful thinking, self-inflation, and unperceived rigidity"
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