The head of the Department of Economic Security says he was incensed after learning what two people at the center of an abuse investigation tried to do, Thursday.
Director Tim Jeffries says adult protective services received a call about a couple at a Mesa care facility, trying to spring their elderly relative out of protective care.
"There is no way in the world, any of us were going to release this woman to people under suspicion of crime," said Jeffries.
Authorities say former DES employee Carol Brown, and her husband, the victim’s son, went to the facility and demanded her release.
The 85-year-old victim had been removed from their care in February after a caregiver reported the home was filthy and she discovered a padlock on the front door.
"The notion that they would go to this care facility, the arrogance of them thinking that they could simply remove her from the care she still needs, because she is in poor health is baffling [to] the highest level," Jeffries said.
The Department of Economic Security, which oversees Adult Protective Services got Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies involved.
Brown and her husband were denied their request to release the elderly victim.
Adult protective services is working to get guardianship over the woman who is now receiving hospice care.
ABC15 has also learned the victim's two adult sons have also been under investigation before, suspected of neglecting their mother, out of California.
DES has also revealed that two high-ranking officials within another division (Division of Benefits and Medical Eligibility, Family Assistance Administration), who had knowledge of Carol Brown's documented employment reprimands, have turned in their retirement paperwork following ABC15’s investigation into this case.
