Edgewater, FL – A 31-year-old man with lots of prior trips to Volusia County Jail is back there again for abusing 3 elderly people that live with him.
Shawn Huffman is held without bond at VCJ on 3 counts of elderly abuse following his arrest on Monday at the home he shares with the alleged victims on North Indian River Drive near Edgewater.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office says deputies started investigating Huffman on August 13th after Huffman’s 72-year-old stepfather complained to the Florida Department of Children & Families about the way Huffman was treating him, his 61-year-old wife and a 64-year-old blind male tenant.
According to the incident report, Huffman’s stepfather told VCSO that Huffman has done a variety of things to make all 3 of them uncomfortable, including making all of them sick for days after Huffman put ground-up laxative pills in their coffee.
Huffman’s stepfather – who suffers from COPD and needs an oxygen tank to breathe – also claims Huffman has blown cigarette smoke in his face, cut off the tank flow and threatened to kill all 3 of them by blowing up an oxygen tank.
Huffman has also allegedly caused stress on the victims by turning the home’s heat onto the highest setting and urinating on both the bathroom floor and the toilet paper roll.
The report noted that Huffman’s stepfather claimed he’s lost 30 pounds over the last few months and suffered a heart attack because of the stress Huffman has put them under. He also told VCSO he, his wife and the tenant have decided to sleep together in the same bedroom with the door locked so that Huffman can’t hurt them.
In the report, the blind tenant claims Huffman threw all of his belongings out of the bedroom he rents from Huffman’s stepfather and threatened to kill him if he tried to re-take the bedroom.
VCSO’s report shows that Huffman’s stepfather is in the process of getting him evicted but isn’t able to at this point because Huffman is contesting the eviction and that a judge has rejected 2 separate protection owners filed against Huffman.
Deputies have also noted that Huffman is diagnosed as bipolar and has been Baker Acted several times.
VCJ records show Huffman’s been booked there 17 other times since April 2003, including last month on charges of criminal mischief and driving with a suspended license.
Shawn Huffman (mugshot courtesy Volusia County Jail)
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