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Non-Verbal Wheelchair-Bound Man Abandoned By Caretaker In Car In Central PA, Police Say

In only a t-shirt and shorts, a non-verbal wheelchair-bound 34-year-old man was found abandoned by his caretaker, authorities say. 

Joseph Munyambu.

Joseph Munyambu.

Photo Credit: Middletown Borough police department

The paid caregiver 63-year-old Joseph Mbugua Munyambu, on Jan. 7 at 10:53 a.m., according to a release by the Middletown Borough police. 

Officers were first called to the 100 Block of Pathfinder Drive for an abuse/neglect call around 9:30 a.m. 

A witness saw "an unattended male in the backseat of a parked vehicle for an extended period of time, and the vehicle was not running," according to a release by the department the following Monday. 

Investigators "determined that the person in the vehicle was a care dependent, non-verbal, wheelchair restricted 34 yr old male under the care of a paid caregiver. The paid caregiver had entered his residence and left the care dependent male in the vehicle. The ambient temperature at the time of police arrival was 40 degrees F," the police state in the release.

Further investigation revealed the man had been in the vehicle for over an hour and "that this was not an isolated incident," the police say.

Munyambu was charged with Neglect of a Care Dependent Person, "he charge is a felony due to the ongoing course of conduct," the police state in the release. 

The details of the previous incidents of neglect have not been released. 

He was taken to Dauphin County Prison where he has been held in lieu of $10,000 and his preliminary hearing has been set before Magisterial District Judge David H. Judy on Jan. 18 at 9 a.m., according to his court docket. 

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