Just When You Thought Things Couldn't Get Any Worse

Plague? Police murder, civil unrest, end of American democracy? All at once? California can top it!

WARNING: VERY GRIM & RATHER ICKY!

A Richmond man was taken into custody this week when police found him cannibalizing his 90-year-old grandmother, authorities said.

Police received a 911 call Monday from the woman’s daughter, who said she found her mother “bleeding on the family room floor and her nephew in the room covered in blood,” according to Richmond Police spokesman Sgt. Aaron Pomeroy.

When officers arrived at the residence in the 1200 block of Club Court, they found the 37-year-old man “straddling his grandmother” and “actively pulling out her flesh with his hands,” Pomeroy said Wednesday.

Officers ordered the suspect, identified as Dwayne Wallick, to stop, but he ignored them and continued what he was doing, Pomeroy said. Authorities deployed a taser, but once the 5-second cycle of the stun gun subsided, Wallick became “extremely aggressive.”

After a struggle, four officers were forced to physically drag Wallick out of the residence because he was still kicking and fighting, Pomeroy said.

Wallick was taken to a hospital to be treated for unspecified injuries, which is unrelated to the physical force used to take him into custody, Pomeroy said. He is not on a psychiatric hold.

Ruby Wallick, 90, was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death will be determined by the Contra Costa medical examiner’s office.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Dwayne Wallick was still in the hospital and had not been booked into jail, Pomeroy said. Authorities were working with the Contra Costa district attorney’s office on potential charges.

Ruby Wallick and Dwayne Wallick both lived at the Richmond residence. Pomeroy said Dwayne Wallick has been his grandmother’s caregiver and has been living with her for a couple of years.

Ruby Wallick’s daughter, who made the 911 call, does not live at the home but walked into the horrifying scene when she showed up to pick up her mother, Pomeroy said.

According to her daughter, Ruby Wallick was still highly functioning and was expected to live several more years. She had vision issues and used a walker to get around, but was in “good health,” Pomeroy said.

Pomeroy said the crime scene was among the most gruesome he’s seen in his career.

“I’ve seen it all,” he said. But “in 26 years of law enforcement, I have never seen a crime scene of a victim that badly injured.”

The motive is unknown, but investigators believe the suspect was under a type of synthetic stimulant, Pomeroy said. Authorities are in the process of determining whether Wallick had any illegal substances in his system.

He has no prior criminal history and no known mental issues, Pomeroy said.