Police have charged a Great Cacapon man for abuse or neglect of an incapacitated adult after emergency medical personnel were called to a county residence to treat an elderly man who was suffering from a severe leg infection and wasn’t receiving assistance from a caretaker.
William J. Kloster, 61, of Rockford Road in Great Cacapon is being held in the Eastern Regional Jail in lieu of a $25,000 cash only bond.
Kloster was arrested on December 11 after the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at his residence.
Police were initially called for a welfare check after EMS had gone to the residence for a medical emergency.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Morgan County Magistrate Court, Deputy Bradley Knotts was dispatched to the residence on November 30 after medical personnel had gone there to treat a resident. That patient had an amputated leg, was incapacitated and had gotten a severe infection in his remaining leg. The man reportedly had fallen and hadn’t been assisted by Kloster, his caretaker. A visitor to the house had found the patient crawling on the floor and called 911 for help.
During Knotts visit to the residence, Kloster allegedly admitted he had no running water in the kitchen, had little to no heat in the living space and had two other elderly people living in the residence.
According to the police complaint, Knotts found the living conditions to be poor but the two adults didn’t appear to be in immediate danger.
During an interview with one of the elderly men, Knotts was told the man paid Kloster $200 per month to care for him, but he had no access to a phone, food or a heated living space. The man told police Kloster stole his medications and sells them.
On December 11, six members of the Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at the Rockford Road house.
Police allegedly found drug paraphernalia. prescription pills with no labels and ledgers showing that Kloster had been charging several elderly people to stay in his residence.
During interviews with police, those individuals indicated they did not receive access to a phone, bathing facilities or food in exchange for what they paid Kloster.
According to a criminal complaint, officers noted there was no running water in the kitchen and no apparent heat source for the main portions of the residence where several people were staying. A portion of the residence where Kloster and a female stayed appeared to have heat.
Officers found a portable potty with feces on the floor underneath it where one of the persons was residing.
One of the residents told police another of the elderly residents has dementia. Officers found that man’s oxygen equipment laying on a dirty floor, not in use.
Police said their investigation into other activities in the residence are ongoing.
