SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – Diana Elms is upset with the Salt Lake County jail’s response after she claims they neglected her mentally challenged son.
"It's an unacceptable standard of professionalism," said Diana Elms, mother of a mentally challenged Salt Lake man.
Elms said she's appalled by the statement from the Salt Lake County Jail explaining what they did to her son Michael Grant.
"Sometimes I have nightmares about it," said Michael Grant, mentally challenged man.
Michael is a paranoid schizophrenic, who's 85% deaf, with impaired vision, and a low I.Q.
Last week Reporter Brian Carlson showed you how two Salt Lake police officers may have wrongfully tased Michael - twice. You may remember Michael was so scared he went to the bathroom in his pants. After police took Michael to the Salt Lake County Jail, security staff let him go by himself around 2:00 a.m. to wander his way home in the same soiled clothes he arrived in.
"I didn't know where I was going; I couldn't see the direction of the street because I have bad night vision," said Michael.
Carlson spent weeks calling the jail to explain their actions; they finally sent him the following statement.
It reads in part --
"We are aware of the concerns presented by Mr. Grant's mother and considerable efforts were made in communicating with all involved to ensure those concerns were adequately addressed.... We believe an appropriate level of care was provided to Mr. Grant based on the information available and the short duration of his detention," said Chief Pam Lofgreen in a statement from the Salt Lake County Jail.
Michael's mother calls the statement "a gloss over piece of crap."
"The concerns were not met, his needs were not met, nobody addressed his disabilities they were made well of that he had," said Elms.
His mother told Carlson someone at the jail immediately recognized Michael's condition and contacted her, but in the end dropped the ball.
"..and (she) said that she would make arrangements for him to be released into my care and I was told I would be called and I was never called," said Elms.
Michael's mother initially hoped the jail would make changes for the better, but after seeing this response, she's now worried Michael won't be the last mentally challenged person who is abused.
"The next time somebody like Michael is arrested and goes to jail they're going to be treated in the same barbaric, uncaring, unfeeling way that Michael was," Elms said.
Michael's mother said she's not giving up the fight. She’s considering taking Michael's case before state lawmakers in the upcoming Utah legislature.
---
Follow Brian Carlson on Twitter: @tv_briancarlson
