MPD call log shows 18 calls for battery at Helping Hands group home where autistic man was assaulted
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- We're learning more information about how often neighbors called police with concerns that caregivers were mistreating residents at an adult group home.
We requested the police records after cell phone video was shared in August. It showed a caregiver assaulting a severely autistic man on the sidewalk.
We submitted a records request with MPD after neighbors told us they've been concerned with the caregivers' behavior for years, and they called police repeatedly.
We dug through the call log and found police responded to the group home more than 80 times in the past few years, 18 of them for reports of battery.
The first call for reported battery at the Helping Hands group home was made June 10, 2021.
Over the next two years, 17 more battery calls were made, according to a Milwaukee Police Department call log, which was secured through an open records request.
In late August of this year, a neighbor's cell phone video was shared on social media. It showed a caregiver working at the group home hitting a 31-year-old resident named Steven.
In interviews, Steven's mother told us he's severely autistic and nonverbal.
At a protest against Helping Hands, the neighbor that filmed the video told us he and several others had called police dozens of times for many serious issues concerning the caregivers.
On Sept. 2, neighbor James Reynolds said, "It's not right for a person under care of a facility to be neglected and abused."
The call log also shows MPD responded to the home in December of 2021 for a report of a subject with a gun.
And other neighbors allege caregivers fought in the streets.
On Sept. 4, 2023, Ginger Otto told us, "They were in the middle of the road here, fighting. Who's taking care of the residents?"
The call log backs up those claims: MPD responded to one reported fight on July 4th of last year, and another in April of this year.
Earlier this month, we spoke with one of the co-owners of helping hands after the video came out.
Alex Mayfield told us Sept. 5, 2023, "We have seen the video. And the moment we saw the video we identified the caregiver."
In a follow-up statement sent to us last week, the owners' attorney said Helping Hands only "became aware of the situation on August 28th". That was after the 18th and most recent call for battery.
The letter from the attorney also said, "we are fully committed to learning from this experience and improving our practices."
After getting the call log, we reached out to the Helping Hands attorneys to ask follow-up questions, but did not get a response back.