Family Harassment

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York (NYC)

What is the best way, legally, to approach this problem? My brother, who has become incredibly belligerent and forceful with his words, now lives with my very elderly mother. Since our father's passing, he has lived with my mother, originally with the honest intentions of taking care of her, but now in a semi-imprisoning state not allowing anyone to see her. He claims that this is her wish. Unfortunately she is not fully lucid and not truly aware of what events are taking place around her.
Normally this is not a problem; daily attendants come to care for her, nurses and other professionals, but when family tries to visit, my brother becomes argumentative. Recently, he called the police claiming that another sibling assaulted him, when they tried to visit. My brother caused physical damage to himself and his son, who was present, now corroborates this account so my (good) brother spent the night in jail and is now facing criminal charges.

What sort of evidence needs to be gathered in order to press charges against my brother? Whenever we try to come over and visit he claims we're trespassing on his home (which really belongs to our mother) and he will call the police and have us all put into jail. He also won't allow anyone to visit our mother. She's not lucid enough to testify or even claim false imprisonment. What can we do? How can we approach this? Elderly abuse and other civil services seem to be very slow with getting anything done.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

If there are nurses and other professionals spending time with your mother, they are mandated reporters of abuse under the law. Unless your mother has been adjudicated as incompetent, and with no report to elder affairs/social services from the medical professionals providing her care, the only thing you can really do is report potential elder abuse to the office of adult protective services at (877) 472-8411. They are mandated to investigate these types of complaints. Regardless of who the home belongs to, your brother IS a resident there, and you can expect that if he doesn't want you there, police will comply with HIS request that you or other family NOT be there. If mom wants him out, she'll need to make that move. If she's not competent to do so, that's what adult protective services will help determine. If you've got medical documentation of mom not being lucid, and incapable of making decisions for herself (including the decision to do nothing and let your brother run things), you can attempt to file in your local probate court to become her legal guardian and seek power of attorney - but it's not a do-it-yourself project, you'll want to consult with a local family law attorney who specializes in adult guardianship.

Be aware that if you go for Adult Guardianship - there is a lot of responsibility that goes with it. Definitely talk to an Elder Law Attorney about every aspect of it.