Villager Jim Christie contends that adult problem children are casting an ugly shadow over Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
“Nearly every day we read in this online news site about many of these ‘children’ committing crimes while they mooch off their parents,” said the Village of Caroline resident.
“Let’s face it, if it were ‘children’ as truly defined by a young age, it wouldn’t be much of a problem. However, we all know these so-called children are grown adults who don’t want to be responsible for themselves and prefer to let their parents give them a place to live. Many are addicts who are committing crimes to get their next fix,” he said. “We usually don’t know them until we see their faces after being arrested for some crime or outlandish behavior.”
Problem children leap into the headlines after an altercation in a home, a drug arrest or a theft somewhere in the community.
Not far from where Christie lives, a 47-year-old son was arrested this past week in an attack on his parents at their home in the Village of Caroline. The altercation sent his father to UF Health-Leesburg Hospital. David Rutland had been arrested last year after an attack on a woman who tried to get him to check into rehab.
Jeffrey Packard, 37, is probably bound for the problem child hall of fame in our 55+ community. He’d already had a couple of arrests and racked up more than $50,000 in fines at his mother’s house in the Village of Sunset Pointe, thanks to his hoarding and other bad behavior. But somewhere along the line, he headed in a much more dangerous direction. Earlier this month, his mother told Community Development District 5 officials and her neighbors that her son wanted to kill her and held her as a prisoner in her own home for two years. Packard remains free on bond. He has been ordered to stay away from his mother and her home.
In the end, parents always seem to forgive and welcome problem children back into their homes.
Thomas Leopold Milcznski, 43, was arrested on Super Bowl Sunday after throwing a pillow at his mother at their home in the Village of Winifred. His mother told Sumter County sheriff’s deputies that her son became “irate” when she would not give him money to buy marijuana. He was arrested on a felony charge of battery on a person over the age of 65. However, the prosecutor’s office has announced it has dropped the case, something that generally occurs when the victim indicates a lack of desire to cooperate in the prosecution of the arrestee.
