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Feb 12, 2007 6:04 pm US/Eastern
Trash-Filled Car Raises Concern About Owner
by Kathy Curran
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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According to police, there was so much trash inside 53-year-old Ann Biglan's Ford Focus, it completely filled the inside from the floor to the ceiling front and back.
CBS
If we're talking about a few old coffee cups or maybe a wrapper or two, a little bit of a mess in your car can be acceptable, but this weekend, a Cape Cod woman's car was so overrun with garbage, it actually caused a crash.
The trash pileup is troubling and it could be a sign of a serious medical condition.
The car jammed with shopping bags and trash send police to a Yarmouth woman's home. "It's not a very livable condition that you want to see… We want to get her some help," said Sgt. Gerard Britt of the Yarmouth Police Department.
Help is needed because Ann Biglan's home is overflowing. It's surrounded by bags and three cars full of household items and debris. On Friday, old coffee cups jammed her accelerator; she crossed three lanes of traffic on Route 28 and crashed into a pole and a car.
"It looks like items she purchased and is continuing to hold onto for whatever reason. She's hording all this," said Britt.
Right now, there is no way in or out about a house. There is so much stuff inside the home, the front door is bowed out.
"Twenty percent with obsessive compulsive disorder, which may be one to two percent of the population -- at least statistically, have hoarding as one of their main obsessive and compulsive problems," said Dr. Shannon Scarry of the Cape Cod Hospital.
"If you need to get some help, we're going to help you with that," said Officer Britt as he spoke through a closed window to Ann.
In the end, police helped Ann move out of her home because they don't think the house and Ann are safe.
The house is in such bad shape, town officials and the Health Department plan to take steps to have it condemned.
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