A heinous assault
Maureen was a mom, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend to animals. In November of 2025, following a 3-year legal battle as the City of Sparks tried to run out the clock on Maureen's life, a $1,000,000.00 settlement was reached between the insurance company (who removed the case from Wes Duncan in the Sparks City Attorney's Office) and Maureen.
A mere four months later, on March 7, 2026, tired and beaten down by the system that betrayed her, a few months shy of her 88th year, Maureen passed away. For the three long years preceding her death, she was mocked by the City of Sparks as they worked relentlessly to evade responsibility for what they did to her. When a settlement was reached, Tim Egan's attorney requested this site be taken down as a gesture of Goodwill. There is no Goodwill because there was no accountability by the agencies involved in the assault. It was not the agencies who did this that settled. It was an insurance company that knew what a trial would mean. This website will stand as a testimonial of what was done to Maureen, so it is never forgotten.
This is Maureen's story.
The positions stated here are the opinion of her family given their experiences with the City of Sparks, Sparks Police and Fire Departments, Washoe County Sheriff's Department, Washoe County Second Judicial District Court, and review of the evidence. All information shared here is public record. We have made it accessible to those who visit this site to decide what they are witnessing.
It's is a David and Goliath story. One that is all too familiar to people marginalized in society - who are attacked by a system that has been weaponized.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MAUREEN:
On December 8, 2022, Maureen was assaulted in a public alleyway behind her home in Sparks, Nevada, as she laid out a cardboard box for shelter and food for several feral cats she has tended to for years. Maureen lived in this neighborhood for roughly 20 years and in that time she was a caretaker of animals and the occasional homeless person who frequented this alley. This is an old part of Sparks and most people have moved from this area, leaving it for shinier neighborhoods. But this was Maureen's home, and she remained in this tired neighborhood. A home that allowed her to have her independence.
Also backing up to this alleyway is Sparks Fire Station No. 1. The Firemen of this Station did not like Maureen. They called her the Crazy Cat Lady and did not use this term fondly. They had a history of harassing her because they didn't like her feeding the cats in the public alleyway. It's not a crime to feed feral cats - in fact, these animals are protected by a city ordinance. There were 3 feral cats Maureen fed.
On a cold winter afternoon on December 8, during a particularly brutal winter here in Northern Nevada, fireman paramedic Tim Egan committed an unprovoked assault upon Maureen as she was minding her own business feeding cats.
We cannot know what Egan was thinking when he decided to attack her. We do know, thanks to the fire station's camera, when Egan startled her and then as she struggled with curled arthritic hands to grab her belongings, Egan grabbed her and leg-swept her smashing her frail body head first into the concrete alleyway.
It was a brutal attack and we should warn you it is difficult to watch as this 84-year-old woman bounces off the concrete pavement.
Maureen at the Renown Medical Center Emergency Room after the assault.
Maureen survived on roughly $1500 in monthly social security benefits and often the assistance of her children to help offset basic living expenses. So it was understandable that Maureen was both startled and distressed when Egan began grabbing items she purchased with her limited funds to throw them in the garbage dumpster. It was cruel.
What happened in the following hours was a sad and disgraceful display by Sparks Fire Station No. 1, Fireman Paramedic Tim Egan, the Sparks Police Department, and the Sparks City Attorney. It would ultimately wind it's way up to the Sparks City Council who would participate in the same disgraceful manner.
Timothy Egan changed his story numerous times. His story varied between his statements to police, his police statement, his affidavit and legal reply to Maureen's legal complaint. His behavior in this regard is compulsive in nature. He says he put his arm out because he was afraid of the 84-year-old woman he thought was homeless, and in doing so she fell. He stated that he told her don't get up because she might be hurt and he would get help. Although he never brought help and it seems implausible that he was in fear of her given her advanced age and arthritis.
Maureen's hands were severely damaged by arthritis.
Maureen said she attempted to rise and wanted to flee because she was afraid and as Egan hovered above her he told her if you get up I'll F-ing put you down again. Observe Timothy Egan's body language in the video as he hovers over Maureen. Notice she falls back to the ground after attempting to rise as though she is in fear. We are inclined to believe this is exactly what he told her as she lay there scared, confused, and injured. We'll let you watch the video and decide.
The assault video follows. We encourage you to view it in full screen. The assault begins after Egan drives his truck into the fire station parking lot, is gone for a while, and returns to harass Maureen. The exchange takes place in the upper left corner of your screen. When Egan comes into her view at the dumpster, she walks clear of him, going wide rather than too close to him - she does so twice. Demonstrating Maureen was attempting to not get too near this stranger.
ASSAULT VIEW ONE
Full unedited video of assault captured by Sparks Fire Dept. No. 1 camera
ASSAULT VIEW TWO
Video of assault captured by Sparks Fire Department Dept. No. 1 camera
In this video the assault is nearly obstructed but not so much that you can see Maureen bounce off the pavement
The majority of support was very strong for Maureen. However, we saw a small percentage of individuals who were not sympathetic to Maureen because the person involved wears a uniform. It is a sad testament that because one simply wears a uniform they are given a pass for their indiscretions.
As a result of the assault, Maureen's life changed in an instant. She experienced whole-body nerve pain, severe migraines, confusion, balance problems/dizziness, anxiety, and sleeplessness. She suffered from chronic pain and saw numerous doctors and underwent tests and pain injections, some of them highly painful for a person of her age. As her health severely declined, Maureen lived in constant fear because no agency in authority would take action over what happened to her.
Following the assault, her children saw a decline in her ability to remember things. This once fiercely independent elderly woman became a shell of her former self. The weight of what we as her children dealt with wass enormous. It was taxing upon our family as a whole because none of us are wealthy people and we work full-time at our advanced ages. It was overwhelming for the family unit. But we were determined to continue to fight for our mom and to ensure this never happened to someone else's mother or grandmother.
We believe our local government closed ranks to protect one of its own while casting aside an old woman. Something bad happened to Maureen. Initial mistakes were made in handling it, allowing the situation to snowball and become too difficult to come back from. So the mishandling only escalated. It is shameful and seems the ultimate abuse of power. The band of brothers may be able to extend the courtesy of not giving one of their own a traffic citation - but this cannot apply to assault and battery.
Maureen was a stay-at-home mom until she left an often abusive alcoholic husband. She always had grit. A pick-yourself-up-the-bootstraps kind of girl, she learned to drive at 32 years old. She joined the workforce full-time at 34 years old after spending her married years as a stay-at-home mom. She was a beautiful vibrant woman who was beaten down over the years by the enormous stress of single-handedly providing for 4 kids. It was a hard life. Yet her children never went without basic needs because of this woman. This woman the firemen of Sparks Fire Station No. 1 called the crazy cat lady has a name. It's Maureen.
Maureen circa 1970 with her children (left to right) Gayla, Bryan, Perry & Marc
Maureen just before the assault with her latest great-grand-baby Auggie.
Even though she is gone, please share Maureen's story to raise awareness of the importance of standing up for the disenfranchised and marginalized among us.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”
-- Martin Luther King
