The Cat Lady in Sparks gets a leg sweep and a lump
There is a Firehouse in Sparks, Nevada that sits along an alley. They share that alley with several homes. This is the older part of Sparks, where people have lived for years. In the alley resides an 84-year-old woman who lives in a home that backs up to the alley. She lives there alone and feeds stray cats and the pigeons. Back on December 8, 2022, it seems she attacked a firefighter with a plastic container filled with cat food at Fire Station No. 1, while attempting to feed feral cats in the neighborhood. The firefighters have been complaining about this elderly woman for years and consider her a nuisance. The woman places food and water out for the cats along the alleyway.
On a cold, sunny December afternoon at 2:22PM there was an ‘incident’ and we’re going to let you look at the video and you can draw your own conclusion. It is a startling video and one that caused us to pause and question what the heck happened, and why did the firefighter choose to engage with the elderly woman. Why not allow her to put the food/water out and come back later and throw the containers out – therefore avoiding this incident.
There is a Sparks Police Department report alleging ‘battery on a fire fighter’ as you watch the video it is difficult to see any battery, but it would appear and via the firefighters statement that he push the 84-year old and she fell to the ground and the firefighter made no effort to help her up. He just let her roll around a bit on the ground, crawl around a bit and finally get herself up all the while he is leaning over her saying something and making no move to help her nor call for services. She was clearly in distress from being taken down. Frankly we, don’t understand what sort of spin Sparks Fire and Sparks Police are trying to put on this, or are they just trying to keep it on the downlow. The police write in their report they saw no injuries on the firefighter – the same can not be said for the elderly woman she got an abrasion and bruising.
If the video isn’t interesting enough – because we can’t see the elderly woman hitting the firefighter with a can of cat food, however we can see her throwing her plastic container and water spilling, as the firefighter states in his statement. We can sure see the firefighter causing the woman to fall and then sort of looming over her. Per the police report taking the woman down was done intentionally since the firefighter performed a ‘leg sweep’ on the 84-year-old to protect himself from further battery. The police then cited the 84-year-old woman for ‘Battery on a Protected Person’ and wrote her a citation, but they could have hauled her off to jail – and it causes one to ponder why they didn’t do just that when it is indicated by the police that the Sparks City Attorney told them to charge her. We wonder if City Attorney Wes Duncan has a grandmother or cat.
Picon has one more question. How could this short, hunched 84-year-old, batter the much taller, younger firefighter with a can of cat food against his head? The woman can’t even reach that high. We’d understand if the firefighter had said she was hitting him in his chest or stomach – but we sure don’t understand her hitting him in the head. Could she have thrown something? Sure, but then he should have stated that, yet instead he spins a tale that is not supported by the video.
Also, we understand the charges were dismissed? Why was that. Did it come to the attention of the City Attorney or City Manager Neil Krutz that they have had enough problems with the Fire Department in Sparks (former Fire Chief Mark Lawson’s lawsuit comes to mind), so better to walk away. We understand the family has retained a lawyer so might this be another ‘fire’ related lawsuit and at what cost to the City of Sparks? And our ultimate comment to the Sparks mayor and city council, it seems as if keeping the city manager in check is a bit like herding cats.
