Woman Pummels Elderly Neighbor With Wet Laundry, Cops Say

A squabble in a laundry room led to felony charges filed against a woman accused of grabbing and throwing wet laundry at her 88-year-old neighbor.

were called to the apartment building in the 10400 block of South Mansfield Avenue around 7:30 a.m. Aug. 9.

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According to the report, the 88-year-old woman had started her wash at her scheduled time of 6 a.m. When she returned to the laundry room, she found her neighbor, Nijole Rackausiene, 58, shutting off the washing machine with her unfinished laundry still in it.

Rackausiene began yelling it was 6 a.m. and that the woman had woken her by starting the machine, police said. The elderly woman pointed to a sign on the wall and told Rackausiene that it was her scheduled time to use the laundry room.

Police said that Rackausiene ripped the sign from the wall and started removing the woman’s laundry from the washer.

A squabble in a laundry room led to felony charges filed against a woman accused of grabbing and throwing wet laundry at her 88-year-old neighbor.

Oak Lawn police were called to an apartment building on the 10400 block of South Mansfield Avenue around 7:30 a.m. Aug. 9.

According to the report, the 88-year-old woman started her laundry during her scheduled time of 6 a.m. When she returned to the laundry room, she found her neighbor, Nijole Rackausiene, 58, shutting off the washing machine with her laundry in it.

Police said that Rackausiene began yelling that it was 6 a.m. and that the woman had woken her by starting her wash. The elderly woman pointed to a sign on the wall and told Rackausiene that it was her scheduled time to use the laundry room.

Rackausiene ripped the sign from the wall and started removing the woman’s wet clothes from the washer. She then started throwing the woman’s wet clothes at her, reports said.

The elderly woman used a mop to ward off the wet laundry, when Rackausiene became even more enraged and grabbed the elderly woman by her wrists trying to get the mop away from her, police said.

Rackausiene is accused of shaking the elderly woman by her wrists while screaming that she was going to kill her. Police said the elderly woman was able to get away and went up to her apartment to call 911.

Police spoke with Rackausiene who denied her neighbor’s account, reports said. While Rackausiene admitted to stopping the washing machine, she said that she only threw her neighbor’s wet laundry at her because her neighbor had picked up a mop.

Rackausiene allegedly told police she thought her neighbor was going to hit her with the mop, so she grabbed her neighbor’s wrists to loosen her grip. Police said Rackausiene went back to bed after the alleged incident.

The elderly woman was coherent and aware of her surroundings. When police arrived, her son had come to the apartment. Both asked the elderly woman numerous times to sign the complaint, but she was adamant that she didn’t want to press charges and signed a waiver.

A few hours later, when the officer was following up, the elderly woman said she changed her mind after speaking to her son and daughter. Police said she wanted to press charges against Rackausiene because she feared for her safety.

At 10:45 a.m., police went to the apartment building and brought Rackausiene back to the station, where the elderly woman positively her identified in a police lineup.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office approved one felony count of aggravated battery. Rackausiene was being held pending a bond hearing on Aug. 10.

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