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FREDERICK, Md. - A caregiver for the developmentally disabled has been arrested for leaving for leaving three mentally challenged, deaf and blind adults in a hot van in Frederick, Maryland.
Frederick Police say the caretaker sat in a window seat at the restaurant, ate his meal and even watched as patron and police rushed to their rescue.
For longer than an hour, police say the three sat in a hot van. They were visibly suffering.
Patrons at the Mountain View Diner in Frederick were disgusted by what they witnessed.
They found 3 mentally disabled, blind and deaf adults inside a hot van with only a cracked window for longer than an hour.
The caretaker was nowhere to be found.
“They noticed some were unresponsive one appeared to be sleeping or slumped over. They were sweating profusely. They could tell from the appearance there was a mentally handicap present. The fact that they had not seen anyone grew concerned,” said Corporal Sean Carr, Spokesman Frederick City Police.
47 year old Brian Flemming (pictured) is now under arrest and charged with 3 counts of neglect.
Police had to open the locked doors themselves.
The group responsible, Med Source Community Services of Frederick, says there is no excuse. Company policy dictates employees must never leave their clients alone in a vehicle.
“Leaving people with developmental disabilities in a vehicle unattended is completely unacceptable. It's absurd and ridiculous that we're even having this conversation,” said Robert Claxton of Medsource, Inc.
The adults lived at this home in Frederick and staff members are working hard to calm them after a troubling day.
The company has more than 20 facilities in the Frederick area and expressed thanks to the public.
“Thank you one of the aspect of living in community is that there are more eyes when something is done wrong. It is very helpful when people do stand up and say hey this is not right,” said Claxton.
Police say the caretaker wasn't just neglectful, but seemed unconcerned.
When officers went looking for Fleming in the diner, police say, they got no answer.
“Officers went inside and first talked to staff and they were unaware who owned the vehicle; then, officers went inside made announcement if anyone is the owner of the vehicle if they can step outside. They had no response from anybody at that point. At that point another officer arrived on the scene and managed to get the door open,” said Carr.
Company officials say the handicapped adults went to church this morning and were supposed to have lunch.
The caretaker even had money for them, but he was the only one who ate.
For now, a company spokesman says Brian Fleming is relieved of his duties.
A decision on his employment is expected tomorrow.
He remained in jail Sunday pending a bond hearing.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
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