Woman Blasted for Calling Cops on Bedridden Brother's Wife As She Ran Errands: 'Spite'

A woman has been blasted for calling the cops on her sister-in-law after she left her "bedridden" husband alone—to run errands.

The 27-year-old took to Reddit's popular AmITheA**Hole forum to vent, explaining her brother, 33, was recently in a "serious accident," leaving him unable to get out of bed for the past few weeks.

The woman, posting under Throwawayarp463, revealed she and her sister-in-law "do not get along," but they try to be "civil" and "tolerate" each other.

But it seems their relationship took a turn after the woman revealed her brother rang up at 11 a.m. and "begged" for help after having an accident while his wife was out.

Throwawayarp463 wrote: "I asked how so and he said he called for her but got no answer, he also said he called her phone but she didn't pick up. I was mad because this is just flat out neglect and it wasn't the first time she did it. My brother begged that I come help him because he accidentally wet the bed."

Rather than rush over to help her brother, she continued: "But I hung up and called the police to report this incident anonymously, the call was a welfare check and when the cops arrived, my SIL was still out of the house.

"Hours later my SIL called me and was yelling names like crazy at me for calling the cops on her just because she was just out running errands, I told her it was her fault for leaving her bedridden husband home alone unattended but she said he was asleep but still anything could have happened."

She claims her sister-in-law was furious she reported her to the police, claiming the situation was "totally avoidable."

Relaying the conversation, Throwawayarp463 claims her brother's wife said: "I should've come helped my brother when he called, instead of going to the police to 'teach her a lesson.'"

The sibling says she figured her brother told his wife she was the one who called the police, despite leaving an anonymous message.

"I hung up on her but she sent my family after me and they said I shouldn't have called the cops but I explained that SIL did this to herself by acting neglectful yet I got called a judgemental B with nothing but spite for my SIL and zero concern for my brother but that was not true," she said.

She claims she's planning to "clear the air" with her family, who insist she "messed up and caused unnecessary problems to my already struggling SIL."

Since being shared on Tuesday, the post has amassed nearly 10,000 upvotes, and can be read here. But after airing the dilemma on Reddit to gain some objective perspective, the more than 1,000 comments overwhelmingly claimed she was in the wrong.

Volcheka asked: "Does she have any support network, or do you expect her not to leave the house 24/7/365? Food needs to be bought. Errands have to be run. If you're concerned, offer to take a shift staying with your brother so SIL can go out and not be slaved to caretaking."

Tokuhiromvcxvsdf asked: "So you prioritized teaching your SIL 'a lesson' over helping your brother out? YTA"

Starchy2ber said: "She made a mistake by not leaving a note but brother is not an infant and obviously had access to a phone so he's not at all helpless.

"OP knowingly leaves her brother sitting in urine for several hours after he calls her for help and yet OP thinks she has the high ground here?

"Given the facts stated by OP, she is a huge a**hole and everything SIL and her family have said is correct. Someone needs to do groceries and errands. SIL is also justified in taking a few hours for herself. Doesn't seem like OP or anyone is helping out in this difficult time."

Canthardlybait thought: "It's definitely not great and probably warrants a conversation, but OP went nuclear and lost her credibility for fair criticism."

While VixNeko reckoned: "This exactly. I am not willing to paint the SIL an AH based on OP's story. There are many reasonable explanations for what happened. Calling the cops was definitely unreasonable imo."

And JohnJohnston pointed out: "And that's why you always leave a note."

Newsweek reached out to Throwawayarp463 for comment.

While she didn't specify where they're based, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shared more information on wellness checks, released amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

They said: "A 'welfare check' is the term the Sheriff's Department has for conducting a safety and wellness check of a person if you have not heard from or seen in a reasonable amount of time.

"When you call the station, a dispatcher will enter a call for service and deputies on patrol will drive to your loved ones home and attempt to make contact."

They added this could be for a variety of reasons, including people requiring essential needs such as "groceries, medical prescriptions or mental assistance."