A 94-year-old Florida woman who was arrested this week when she refused to leave her home after being evicted has been released from jail — and is spending her birthday on Friday as a free woman.
Juanita Fitzgerald, of Eustis, is facing a trespassing charge after she refused to leave the National Church Residences’ Franklin House after falling behind on her rent. A judge released Fitzgerald from the Lake County Jail on her own recognizance Thursday and she was being turned over to a caregiver, Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Herrell told the Orlando Sentinel.
A police spokesman told the newspaper that officers gave Fitzgerald — who was told of her impending eviction on Monday, days ahead of her 94th birthday on Friday — several options to find alternative housing, but she declined, saying she didn’t want to move. Police were called to the scene after she refused to the building’s lobby. She remained defiant even after officer arrived, according to a police report.
“Unless you carry me out of here, I’m not going anywhere,” according to an arrest report.
Footage of Fitzgerald’s arrest shows the frail nonagenarian screaming as officers take her to jail.
“Ow, God, you’re hurting me,” Fitzgerald said. “Oww!”
One officer can be heard on the bodycam footage released by Eustis police warning Fitzgerald not to scratch him, while another officer said she wasn’t trying to hurt the 5-foot, 100-pound woman. Fitzgerald told WJAX-TV during a jailhouse interview earlier Thursday that she didn’t understand why she was evicted from the residence after eight years, despite court records showing her behind on rent and refusing to pay, according to the station. Fitzgerald said she had bruises on her arms and legs after the arrest.
“Now, can you imagine anybody doing that to an old woman?” she asked the station. “They wouldn’t treat a murderer like they treated me.”
Another resident at the facility said Fitzgerald rebuffed every attempt to help her.
“Everybody here has attempted to help her,” resident Dave Howell told the station. “She refuses all help.”
Fitzgerald, meanwhile, isn’t so worried about her next landing spot.
“I’m a born-again Christian and I’m spirit-filled,” she told WJAX-TV, adding that she’d prefer to return to Franklin House. “Yeah, I’d go back there and live. You know, that’s all the people I know.”