Iowa man forced his 89-year-old dad to crawl on the ground and stepped on his fingers because it was 'funny'
ANKENY, IOWA: An Iowa man has been arrested and charged after he was accused of kicking his dependant father, causing him to fracture several ribs, it was revealed in court documents. Douglas Alan Maier, 60, was apprehended after deputies from the Polk County Sheriff's Office responded to his rural Alkeny home on Monday, October 14, to investigate a report of elder abuse, according to the Des Moines Register.
When they arrived at the residence, Maier's 89-year-old father Albert told them his son intentionally kicked his right leg because he was "in the way," causing him to fall and hurt his ribs. Those allegations were seemingly confirmed when deputies observed bruising on the left part of the elderly man's torso. When he was taken to the hospital for an evaluation, the medical staff found cat hair in his wounds.
The father complained to deputies that his son regularly denied him his walker as well, forcing him to crawl on his hands and his knees to get around, and would then step on his fingers and laugh "thinking this was funny."
He also accused Maier of refusing to feed him anything but two cans of cold corn a day, and cashing his social security checks for the last 25 years and keeping the money for himself.
Rick Yoder, a neighbor, expressed surprise when informed about the allegations against Maier. "I thought maybe [Maier's father] passed away or something... evidently not," he said. "I can't imagine someone doing that to their own dad."
"It's a serious crime, again it's under-reported and we tried to get people to take note of that and get involved," said police lieutenant Heath Osberg.
Maier was charged with felony dependent adult abuse, including intentional physical injury, in connection to the case, and booked into the Polk County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
If convicted of the charges, the 60-year-old faces up to 10 years in prison.