Titus Young is a man in need of help. He should have been in a treatment facility Monday. Instead, he sat in the medical ward of a jail in Santa Ana, Calif., following his third arrest in a week.
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It's a sad story that continues to unfold in front of the public eye. Richard Young, the father of the former Detroit Lions wide receiver, says the Titus Young he knows is not the same person who continues to falter.
"I hope they just forgive Titus because this ain't none of Titus, it wasn't none of his fault," Richard Young told the Detroit Free Press. "I look at my son right now, I don't see my son. That's not my son. I know my son. Titus is not the boy I really raised, I'm saying the way he act, the way he intermix in society right now.
"He shut down, he look through you, it's like he's depressed. He don't like to watch TV, he don't like to get involved with music that much. And these are the things that you've got to know what's going on in the world. 'Cause we in the world, you've got to have a relationship with the world. You've got to deal with people. I don't know, but we've been trying to get him help."
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Richard Young said Titus had sought help recently at outpatient facilities in Texas and in Newport Beach and Malibu, Calif. Titus was scheduled to enter a facility Monday before his latest arrest. Richard said Titus had been prescribed Seroquel -- a powerful antipsychotic drug -- but Titus wasn't taking his medicine regularly. Richard believes Titus' mental problems stem from a concussion.
Richard said he spent time with his son shortly before the string of arrests began in the Los Angeles area.
"We were really talking, and so I was loving it," Richard Young said. "We get home, and he said, 'Daddy, I left my phone in the car. Can I get my phone?' 'Cause usually I give my wife the key to hold the key, 'cause he's not supposed to be driving. And I gave him the key, he sat in the car for a minute, and he took off and we ain't seen him since."
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
