SALT LAKE CITY — Police say a Salt Lake man in charge of caring for his mother had bottles of urine and pizza boxes all over his house.
Adam Edward Legge, 49, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, a third-degree felony.
Salt Lake police responded to Legge’s residence on Oct. 26 on a welfare check. A neighbor told officers he typically sees the woman every few days, but was concerned she “was either dead or hurt because he had not seen her in a while,” the charges state.
Legge admitted to officers that his mother, who was previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, has had “health problems for some time” and that he was her caretaker, according to charging documents. But he became confrontational when officers asked to go inside and make sure she was OK.
Once police were eventually allowed inside the residence, they found “the entryway was full of garbage and two-liter bottles filled with urine were all over the home. The trash made it hard to walk through the home,” according to court documents.
As the officers made their way to the basement, they observed “more cups and bottles with urine in them and several old pizza boxes,” the charges state.
The mother was found lying in bed and was weak, officers noted. The woman told officers she had trouble moving, would get out of bed every day or two, and urinated in cups, according to charging documents.
The neighbor told police that Legge “would not use electricity” and said that his mother “needed to eat more pizza,” the charges state. Legge admitted to officers there was no running water or working toilet in the house, according to charging documents.
Legge admitted to officers that he and his mother “should not be living in this type of environment” and that “he didn’t mean for the garbage to get like this,” according to court documents. He also said both of them had previously been sick but he did not seek medical attention.
Emergency crews took the mother to a local hospital where doctors diagnosed her with malnutrition, dehydration and “generalized weakness,” the charges state.