Cellphone video from inside a mental health facility in Dixmoor shows filthy living conditions and a bedbug infestation. To make matters worse, police say the patients were locked inside, with staff nowhere to be found. CBS 2’s Lauren Victory reports.
Dixmoor police and paramedics from Bud’s ambulance service responded about 11:00 p.m. after police received a call that residents were locked in an assisted-living facility. Police on arrival discovered no staff on scene.
The assisted-living facility, The Mothers House, Value Care Centers 14127 South Leavitt Avenue in Dixmoor in the south suburbs, was evacuated because residents were living in deplorable conditions.
Thirty residents were evacuated overnight from Value Care Centers, located at 141st Street and South Leavitt Avenue in Dixmoor, Illinois. The Mothers House was run by Value Care, a non-profit specializing in helping people with mental health issues and disabilities. Presidents were evacuated with the help of paramedics who wore protective gear Medical personnel dressed in protective gear took the residents. The residents ranged in age from 20 to 50, and were transported to four area hospitals.
While there were no staff members inside the building when police arrived, police also discovered the facility was infested with bed bugs. Also, there was no hot water available in the two-story facility. Initially police were unsure whether residents were abandoned. Dixmoor police chief Ron Burge says he is treating the incident as a criminal case.
Cellphone video, taken by police, captured the deplorable living conditions with garbage and garbage bags throughout the building. Bed bugs can be seen crawling everywhere in the video — even on the walls.
Police are considering criminal charges against those linked to the facility — which is known as “The Mothers House.” The center was apparently still in operation, despite being ordered by the Dixmoor police chief to shut down two weeks ago.
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