Elder Law

Nursing Home Caregiver Slept while Wheelchair-Bound man Wandered

By Levin & Perconti

A caregiver at an assisted-living facility was arrested after police found a disoriented elderly patient wandering along a busy road. The 31 year old man faces one count of elderly neglect without bodily harm which is a third degree felony. Police said that he slept while a 78-year-old under his car escaped the nursing home and rode his wheelchair about a third of a mile to the road. A police dispatcher heading to work found the man just before 6 a.m. sitting beside the road in a sweater shorts and hospital search. The man claimed that he didn?t know where he lived and was 29 and heading to an elementary school. An officer found the lone caretaker sleeping in the house where the assisted-living facility was located. Poorly staffed assisted living facilities can lead to elderly neglect anywhere, including Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the elderly neglect, please click here.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on February 12, 2009 (boomark / email).