In a heavily wooded region of West Milford, just north of the Appalachian Trail and a short distance from the New York border, residents of a high-income, bucolic 12-home neighborhood say they are being "terrorized" by patients who escape from their group home.

A naked man acting in a "belligerent and extremely aggressive manner" smashed four garage windows, damaged a door and ripped out a light fixture as he tried to break into one Longhouse Drive home last November, neighbors said.

Last week, the same patient "was banging his head, feet and arms" against the door of a home trying to gain entry, said one neighbor. That encounter turned violent when the resident tried to stop him.

"People up here are scared to leave their homes and walk to their mailboxes," said Anthony Neglia, a neighbor of the group home.

The state Department of Human Services is investigating the incidents and the group home at 240 Longhouse Drive. Run by Bellwether Behavioral Health, the home was established for people in treatment programs for disabilities and psychological conditions. Some of the population has traits such as "aggression, self-injurious behavior, sexually inappropriate behavior, fire setting, property destruction," according to the company website.

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Bellwether officials did not return requests for comment.

The group home was at the center of 84 calls to police in 2018, town records show. Most were ambulance calls, said Police Chief Timothy Storbeck, but a handful involved patients banging on neighbors' doors and windows in the night. Police officers responded to most of the calls, including those only requesting an ambulance, the chief said.

Residents, aware of the response time in their remote corner of the township, have invested in new alarm systems and security cameras. Neglia said he checks his camera-linked smartphone app every hour. Another nearby resident, Dory Kowal, has cameras on each corner of her house linked to her tablet. That tablet, she said, is always within reach.

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The group home is one of 14 Bellwether facilities in the 80-square-mile township. The facility, in operation for 18 years, is not the only one drawing attention, said Mayor Michele Dale. However, it is the most notorious, she said. There are about 12 patients at the 51-acre wooded site on Longhouse Road, Dale said. Local residents say there have been more than 30 at times.

Town officials said they requested state intervention, oversight and guidance in February after Bellwether officials evaded requests for remediation. Residents, following the November 2018 incident, reached out to state representatives, including Senator Joseph Pennachio and Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce.

A state monitor is in place to review Bellwether’s system of care, services, and supports, including staffing and accountability practices in response to concerns, said Tom Hester, a Department of Human Services spokesman.

The monitor won't oversee day-to-day operations at individual homes, Hester said, rather her role is to review the company’s system of care, services and supports, including staffing and accountability practices. The monitor was not available for comment.

A quality management team of department staff was also assigned to provide "consistent and rigorous oversight of a quality improvement plan to achieve measurable improvements at Bellwether facilities," Hester said. The department also regularly inspects and reviews community-based home and programs for individuals with disabilities.

On Friday, Assemblyman Jay Webber initiated a conference call that included West Milford's mayor, police chief and the Department of Human Services.

The goal was to get the state and the residents together “so that the state could hear the concerns directly and have the state’s plans heard by the residents directly,” Webber said.

Webber said he and Dale urged the Department of Human Services to visit West Milford in the next two weeks. "The department took that under advisement,” he said, adding if there is no response in the next few days, "the mayor and I and others will decide what the next steps will be.”

Another incident

Last week's incident brought police to Longhouse Drive once more.

"The homeowner came outside and confronted the individual and it became a 10- to 15-minute physical confrontation," Neglia said.

Residents and police typically become aware of an escaped patient before Bellwether's staff notifies the police department, the chief said. No charges have been filed against Bellwether patients following reports of break-ins or property damage, but Storbeck said he sends reports to the Department of Human Services as part of the ongoing investigation.

"What if one of our children was at the bottom of the driveway waiting for the school bus when this naked and crazed individual approached them? What if this individual gained entry into the home of Longhouse Drive where the initial assault took place?" reads a letter sent to township officials signed by 12 residents of Longhouse Drive and Melinda Lane.

Eleven neighborhood residents, who gathered to speak of the incidents on Friday, said they want the facility shut down. Any changes to improve security will not be enough to make them feel safe, they said.

The two women who live in the Longhouse Drive home damaged in November say they have been traumatized. One has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and watches television with a can of pepper spray nearby. The two said they hired an attorney and are planning to seek damages from Bellwether.

Jeffrey Waitze has lived near the Longhouse Drive home for 25 years. He and other residents said things weren't always this bad. When the company held an open house about 20 years ago, he said the residents seemed "high functioning."

There were no issues for years, Waitze said. Residents said that started to change about two or three years ago, when Dory Kowal, who lives three doors from the group home, said she heard banging at her door at midnight.

"I was watching TV and all of a sudden someone was trying to get into my front door," she said. "My dog was barking like crazy. Usually my dog scares everyone away because he is 185 pounds. But he was pounding. He wasn't aware of what this dog might do to him. He just kept trying to come in."

A few minutes later "a white van came screaming down the driveway." She said two men got out and tackled the person. She had an alarm system installed after that. Kowal said she is scared to be in her yard "morning, noon or night."

People with more severe disorders moved in and the house started falling into a state of disrepair, Waitze said. Now garbage is often strewn across the property, he added. Town officials have responded by requiring property maintenance, but have few options when it comes to regulating the state-licensed healthcare provider, Dale said.

"The zoning regulations allow them to be there," she said.

Bellwether history

Bellwether is a private equity-owned developmental disability services company known as AdvoServ before 2017. The company changed its name and ushered in a new leadership team following media coverage of patient deaths and the staff's use of restraining devices.

Bellwether had 71 abuse and neglect investigations in New Jersey between March 2017 and March 2018 — three times more than any other similar provider, state records show. It also had the most substantiated investigations with 33. Bellwether is the highest capacity provider of any similar company in the state, according to records.

In 2018, Florida's Agency for Persons with Disabilities sought to revoke the license of a Bellwether facility following verified findings of abuse and neglect by the Florida Department of Children and Families. The Florida facility, which held more than 50 patients, closed soon after.

The neighborhood residents said the situation is deteriorating quickly and recounted how staff members lost track of residents both days last weekend. More than one homeowner said there are many gun owners in the remote area and they want something done before someone gets hurt.

“Had my wife opened the door, and I witnessed a large male forcing his way into my home early on a Sunday morning, I being a legal and licensed gun owner, may have shot that young man,” neighbor Nicholas Salleroli wrote in a letter to township and state officials.

The state's Department of Human Services would not comment on the individuals served by the program.

Residents said the company's clientele should mandate better alarms, patient monitoring and calls to the police whenever a patient leaves the property. Dale said alarms on doors and windows at health care facilities housing high-risk individuals could eventually be required by local law.

The group homes provide care to individuals who qualify for Home and Community-Based Services Medicaid waivers with funds dispensed by state disability agencies. The company has other locations in the North Jersey area, including Paterson, Hamburg, Ringwood and Warwick, New York.

Department of Human Services records show Bellwether has a licensed capacity of nearly 500 in its New Jersey facilities. It also manages homes for disabled adults and youth in Delaware and Virginia, according to its website.

Email: zimmer@northjersey.com; myers@northjersey.com