Nursing home employees arrested after video shows them abusing patient, Texas cops say
A nursing home resident was hospitalized after employees abused him, video shows.
A Texas City family received a call from Solidago Health and Rehabilitation that their grandfather was in the hospital after falling from his bed on Sunday, Oct. 2, KHOU reported.
He had bruises around his eye and a neck brace, KPRC reported. Seeing his injuries, his family began to question what had happened.
The family watched the camera in his room and found disturbing footage, KTRK reported.
The video shows two nursing home employees —one in blue and one in purple — standing by him while he’s on the floor.
The employee in blue hits his only leg, pulls him, then kicks him, video shows. The employee in purple stands there while this happens, then begins dragging him by his wrist toward the bed.
The employees roughly lift and appear to partially toss, partially shove him onto the bed, grabbing him by his wrist and the waistband of his pants. He is seen kicking his leg in the air as one employee closes the curtain around the bed, obscuring the rest of the interaction from view, video shared with KHOU shows.
The family told KHOU that the employees were behind the curtain for 15 to 20 minutes, and he ended up on the floor again.
Solidago Health and Rehabilitation said in an Oct. 7 Facebook post that it reported the incident to the “appropriate authorities” and launched an internal investigation.
“We remain shocked and saddened that this occurred,” the nursing home said. “Protecting the health and safety of all residents in our care remains our top priority.”
The man’s family also reported the incident to the Texas City Police Department, according to an Oct. 7 news release. The family installed the camera in his room after he complained of previous abusive treatment, KTRK reported. The family did not have video evidence until now.
“We literally cried,” his grandson told KHOU. “We cried. We were angry. We wanted to go do something. … We don’t even know how long that has been happening, or if anybody else is going through it.”
“I was just speechless,” the man’s granddaughter told KTRK. “I know it does happen, but I didn’t think it would happen to my grandfather.”
The nursing home fired the employees involved in the incident, according to its Oct. 7 statement.
“We have no tolerance for behavior that jeopardizes the health and safety of our residents, and all violations of our policies are addressed appropriately,” the nursing home said.
Lisa Jo Cooper, 61, and Kecia Danielle Johnson, 57, turned themselves in to the Galveston County Jail on Thursday, Oct. 6, police said. Both women are facing a charge of injuring a child, elderly person and/or disabled individual, officers said.
KHOU reported the man as being 87 years old, while KTRK reported him as 86 years old.
Texas City is about 45 miles southeast of Houston.
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