A 93-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday for refusing to leave a residence after being evicted for not paying her rent.
Juanita Fitzgerald will turn 94 on Friday and could spend her birthday behind bars at the Lake County, Florida, jail.
Fitzgerald was evicted from the National Church Residences’ Franklin House senior living facility in Eustis, Florida, after falling three months behind on her rent, News 6 reported. After living there since April 2011, Fitzgerald reportedly told the facility she was holding back the rent because she expected to die soon, Karen Twinem, VP of Communications and Public Relations at National Church Residences, told News 6.
Twinem said the organization had tried to communicate with the 93-year-old's family about the eviction, and also tried to help her get assistance.
Fitzgerald refused all assistance and would not leave the lobby of the facility or remove her belongings, WFTV reported. She resisted all attempts to remove her and purposefully slid to the floor to try to prevent officers from removing her, the news station said.
She told officers several times, “Unless you carry me out of here, I’m not going anywhere,” WFTV reported, and officers told her she would be arrested if she didn’t leave voluntarily.
Fitzgerald eventually was taken to Lake County Jail. She was not handcuffed because of her age and the possibility of injury, WFTV reported. She is being held in jail on a $500 bond on charges of trespassing.
Twitter thought maybe she didn’t understand capitalism and wished her well.
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