Police Over React To Elderly Man. Is There More To This Story?

Report: Elderly Man Calls Ambulance To Help Care For Wife; Police Arrive And Beat Him

April 23, 2014 by Sam Rolley 

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An elderly Missouri man who phoned for an ambulance to assist him with his wife, who suffers from dementia, says he was beaten by an arriving police officer for no reason and now faces charges.

Elbert Breshears, a 78-year-old resident of Humansville, Mo., told local ABC-affiliate KSPR 33that he called paramedics for assistance when his wife knocked out one the windows in the couples’ home.

The elderly man was standing outside the home with his wife, who was confused and shouting for help due to her medical condition, when local police officers beat the paramedics to the scene.

“The wife and I were standing about here… I was standing here holding her right arm and talking to her. And she was waving… around and hollering help,” Breshears said.

When the police officers arrived, Breshears says an officer bailed out of the squad car, ran over and knocked him to the ground.

The officers ordered the elderly man to get back on his feet; and when he informed them that he was physically unable to do so, they allegedly became aggressive.

“First thing, I know they grab me, threw me out there on the gravel. One of them sat down on my back, the other sat down on my head. They were trying to get handcuffs on me. I told them I can’t get my hands up. I have no objection to being handcuffed,” Breshears said.

When the ambulance arrived, Breshears and his wife were both given medical treatment.

While police officials refused to comment to local reporters about the incident, they did say that Breshears faces charges of elder abuse, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.

Breashears, who said he’s had problems with the local police in the past, contends that the charges are nonsense.

“No, I don’t hurt my wife. I’ve been living with her 47 years; I love the woman,” he told KSPR 33. “She can’t help what she does.

“What I was trying to do was so my job,” he went on. “And this is what I got for it.”