Elderly residents at senior citizens home 'used cocaine and ran a prostitution ring from their unit'
- James Parham, 75, 'provided prostitutes to his younger neighbors'
- Cheryl Chaney, 66, 'had crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia'
- Arrests came after fearful elderly residents complained about drunks and addicts invading the building
By
Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 10:30 EST, 14 May 2013 |
UPDATED: 10:30 EST, 14 May 2013
Two elderly residents have been arrested on suspicion of using cocaine and running a prostitution ring out of their apartments at a senior citizen housing complex.
James Parham, 75, admitted providing prostitutes with crack cocaine addictions to his younger neighbors at the Vincente Tibbs Senior Citizen Building in Englewood, New Jersey, police said.
Parham and another resident, 66-year-old Cheryl Chaney, were charged with possessing drug paraphernalia and maintaining a drug nuisance. She faces a charge of possessing crack cocaine.
Police also charged 54-year-old Selma McDuffie, a school crossing guard who has now been suspended and banned from visiting the complex, with having a crack pipe.
The arrests came after many elderly residents at the home complained about drunks and addicts invading the 152-unit building. Many were fearful to leave their rooms, police said.
'Essentially, they were prisoners in their own building,' Chief Arthur O’Keefe of the Englewood police, told the
New Jersey Record. 'I wasn’t going to allow that to continue.'
The Englewood Housing Authority, which manages the property serving disabled and low-income residents over 62, said they carried out checks on the two residents before they moved in.
They met the income guidelines and passed a criminal background check, an official told The Record.
But the residents' concerns sparked an undercover investigation and officials checked surveillance footage to track down the perpetrators.
The federally-funded housing agency cannot afford private security guards for the home, officials said, and instead, residents must contact police if they have any issues.
But in light of the findings - where people were afraid to leave their rooms after coming face-to-face with addicts and strangers in the hallways - police patrol the building around the clock.
O’Keefe said the police department is understaffed following injuries to several officers in recent weeks but that he has no plans to end the patrols at the Tibbs complex.
'I'm not going to allow the seniors to fall victim again,' he said.
Parham, who moved to the home in January 2012, scheduled to appear in Municipal Court in Englewood on Wednesday.
Chaney, who has lived there since September 2010, and McDuffie are due in court June 11. Both Parham and Chaney are in the process of being evicted from the home.
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