EAU CLAIRE — An Eau Claire man faces a felony charge after authorities said he left a cognitively impaired client in a closed car without air conditioning while outside temperatures topped 90 degrees.
Justin Allen faces charges of recklessly abusing patients — likely to cause great harm, along with obstructing an officer. The former charge is a Class I felony.
According to the criminal complaint, officers responded to a report about a man in a car. The caller said something was clearly wrong and suspected alcohol or drug use.
Neither was the case. The responding officers recognized the man was mentally impaired and that the vehicle checked back to Aurora Residential Services in Menomonie.
The name cited in the complaint appears to be a conflation of two different Aurora companies. The company’s website says Aurora Community Services is the umbrella company for the organization, while Aurora Residential Alternatives offers “compassionate and professional residential alternatives for individuals with developmental/intellectual disabilities, challenges related to mental health or substance use, and traumatic brain injuries.”
The man in the car said “Justin” was his caretaker, and that he had left him in the car. The key was in the ignition and the vent was blowing hot air. The officer’s patrol vehicle indicated a temperature of 91. That led the man to roll down his window.
In those conditions a closed car without air conditioning will heat up at a rate of about one degree per minute, rapidly becoming dangerously hot.
Officers attempted to call Aurora’s Menomonie office several times while they attended to the man, but the calls were not answered. Allen returned to the car about 11 minutes after officers first arrived, which was some 17 minutes after the original call.
He explained that he had to stop at the health department due to an ongoing skin condition. He had a bandage around his arm indicating a blood draw had been made. While Allen admitted to leaving the man, he said he had been gone only about five minutes.
A Class I felony is the lowest level felony under Wisconsin law. Sentences are capped at 18 months in prison and two years’ extended supervision, though such a sentence would be very unusual. Fines can be up to $10,000.
Allen has not yet been arraigned, and thus has not entered a plea. He was released on a $1,000 signature bond after his initial appearance in court. Conditions of his release barred him from caring for any patients age 65 or older outside of his job and that he was required to inform his employer of the pending charges.