But this time, Beaver County law enforcement took her over the Millard County line to a service station at about 1 a.m., then drove away.
Beaver County Sheriff Kenneth Yardley said Thursday that he will discipline any deputies and Corrections workers involved. "We're damn well going to have an education on this," Yardley said.
But the sheriff also said the case highlights a problem for rural law enforcement: How should they help the homeless and transients with no shelter nearby?
"That's what happens to these kinds of folks," Yardley said. "They get shuttled from one county to the other."
Disability Law Center Director Fraser Nelson said Thursday she was "astonished" at the officers abandoning Bradford.
"The police are bound to serve the community, and that does not sound like service to me," she said. "The out-of-sight, out-of-mind part of this is really disturbing."
Nelson acknowledged rural areas don't always have shelters or other services to offer but said police could have taken Bradford to a hospital, called the Division of Adult Protective Services or searched for family or friends.
"You don't just drive someone over the county line and drop them off at a service station. They wouldn't do that with a dog. You'd take a dog to the animal shelter," Nelson said.
Yardley said the Bradford incident began when the Beaver County Sheriff's Office received a complaint Sunday that Bradford was trespassing at two motels. Deputies brought her into the sheriff's office for booking, but Bradford - who communicates by writing - didn't give them enough information to complete the paperwork. Instead, she received a trespassing citation, Yardley said.
Bradford told deputies she wanted to go to Salt Lake City, the sheriff said. So Beaver County personnel - likely two deputies or a deputy and a Corrections officer - drove Bradford north into Millard County and dropped her off at the gas station in Cove Fort, he said.
They "probably expected her to catch a ride the way she got to Beaver," Yardley said.
Bradford entered the Cove Fort Chevron station about 1 a.m. Monday.
Bill Olsen, an EMT who was working as the station's attendant that morning, said in an interview Bradford was "kind of confused looking."
Writing on a notepad, she asked if she was in Fillmore, Olsen said. Then she asked if there was a bus she could take there. Olsen told her there wasn't. Then Bradford began complaining of chest pains, Olsen said, and he called for an ambulance. She was admitted to Fillmore Community Medical Center. Janet Anderson, the health information manager at the hospital, said Bradford was discharged about 8 a.m. Monday.
The Salt Lake Tribune could not locate Bradford on Thursday.
Yardley said he was displeased to learn the next day of Bradford's treatment. "They could have held her back here overnight, and then I would have dealt with her the next morning," Yardley said.
He is assigning a lieutenant to investigate but declined to disclose the names of the officers involved.
Still, Yardley said rural jurisdictions struggle with the homeless and transients, who he said may like small towns because they can roam the streets without being bothered. Others pass through, seeking rides to somewhere else.
The sheriff said his office transports people to other jurisdictions from four to 10 times a year. When people enter Beaver County via freight trains, Yardley said, he'll sometimes drive them back to the freight station and say, "It would be nice if you left my town."
The sheriff said he recalls Bradford first arriving in Beaver County about a year ago in a rental car from California. After the car broke down, his office helped her pay for a motel room, but she was eventually evicted. Twice, deputies helped Bradford with transportation to Cedar City's homeless shelter; once, she refused to go inside.
"Why she keeps coming back to my town, I don't know," Yardley said.
Carol Bolsover, director of Iron County Share and Care, the shelter where Bradford stayed, said she left last Thursday or Friday saying she wanted to check on a cat she left in Beaver County.
It appears Bradford, at times, had a place to live in the county. In March, a caseworker from Adult Protective Services interviewed a Beaver County woman matching Bradford's description to see whether she was capable of handling her finances, which included public assistance, said Human Services spokeswoman Carol Sisco. The investigator determined no intervention was necessary and closed the case on April 6.
"She knew how much money she had coming in and how far behind she was on rent. And she was buying and cooking food for herself," Sisco said.
Bolsover described Bradford as "perfectly lucid" but believes she may have some form of mental illness.
When recently admitted to the shelter, Bradford refused to give workers the required personal information, Bolsover said. Workers called police, Bolsover said, and Bradford became more cooperative.
That incident points to another problem, Bolsover said. Assisting the homeless can be difficult when they won't help.
"Even if they're not taken to the county line or something like that, which is horrible, they still end up out of the shelter because they won't participate in very basic requirements," Bolsover said.
