Inset: Victor Palsenberger (PBCSO). Background: The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (Google Maps).
A Florida man is accused of neglecting his wife, who has dementia, by repeatedly leaving her alone without food or supervision despite warnings that she had wandered into traffic and been found walking the neighborhood naked.
Victor Lee Palsenberger was arrested and charged with one felony count of neglecting an elderly or disabled adult without causing great bodily harm, court records show.
In a probable cause affidavit from July, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office described months of incidents involving Palsenberger's wife, who is in her 80s, including reports that she was found naked, confused or wandering outside in only a diaper. The investigating deputy wrote that Palsenberger had been warned "multiple times" not to leave his wife alone because she had dementia and "needs care 24/7."
On July 9, a deputy responded to an undisclosed address after a neighbor found Palsenberger's wife outside her residence "in her diaper wandering the front of her residence," the affidavit said. The neighbor told authorities it was not the first time she had found Palsenberger's wife "wandering" without supervision.
The affidavit cited earlier incidents. She was reportedly locked out of her residence April 8. On May 15, she wandered away and was reported missing. On June 18, she was found confused at a neighborhood clubhouse "with no pants on." One day later, she was found "outside naked and lying in the grass, left home alone," the affidavit states.
The affidavit also describes a Feb. 7 call in which the woman reported that her husband was having a stroke. Responding officers and emergency medical personnel found her confused and learned that her husband "was not experiencing a medical episode."
In another incident described in the affidavit, the woman was found naked and "covered in feces." The deputy wrote that she struck a neighbor who was trying to get her back inside.
Before arriving on July 9, the deputy called Palsenberger, who said he was at work and his wife was home alone.
A neighbor told the deputy that Palsenberger had left his wife alone on several occasions while he was at work. The neighbor said she had seen the woman "wandering the street naked and walking toward moving vehicles." She was not responsible for supervising the woman but tried to help because she feared the woman would injure herself, the affidavit states.
After the deputy arrived, Palsenberger told him that his wife had been diagnosed with dementia about two years earlier and that he worked Wednesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. He said that while he worked, a neighbor cared for his wife. However, the neighbor said that was false.
The deputy described the woman as "a hazard to herself and others if left unsupervised," citing the risk of her "walking into oncoming traffic and continuously standing outside in the heat." He also warned that household appliances or electrical items posed fire hazards.
"Let it be noted that she lives in a complex that is connected to other buildings where people live, and if a fire were to start in her unit, it could easily spread to other nearby units," the affidavit states.
The affidavit concludes that Palsenberger left his wife with "no food, no one to care for her [and] no way to contact the police," calling it a "dangerous situation."
The deputy did not arrest Palsenberger during the July encounter, explaining that Palsenberger was his wife's only caregiver and that his arrest could "lead to [her] death or serious injuries."
Palsenberger is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 3, records show.
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