New Mexico DOJ charges four people with abuse of assisted living residents
SANTA FE, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The New Mexico Department of Justice's Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Division announced charges against four people accused of abusing residents at assisted living facilities.
Salomon Sanchez, Lee Carrizales, Linda Romero, and Edwars D. Bonilla-Aguinada are charged with Abuse of a Resident and could face up to six months in prison per count if convicted.
"Salomon Sanchez, an employee at Community Options, Inc., a Developmental Disabilities Waiver group home in Santa Fe, was captured on video forcibly grabbing a resident, shoving the victim’s face toward a table, and refusing assistance while making degrading comments," a New Mexico DOJ spokesperson explained Tuesday.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says the arrests of Sanchez and the other defendants sends a "clear message" that New Mexico will not tolerate the abuse of vulnerable people.
"Lee Carrizales, an employee at Pacifica Senior Living Facility, is charged with two counts of Abuse of a Resident for verbally assaulting two facility members," the DOJ spokesperson explained. "Videos of this abuse were posted on Facebook and alerted to our office by the New Mexico Department of Health."
Romero, meanwhile is accused of striking a developmentally disabled person several times in front of other people.
"Edwars D. Bonilla-Aguinada, an employee at Morningstar of Rio Rancho Assisted Living Facility, is accused of aggressively forcing an 89-year-old resident with Alzheimer’s to undergo a diaper change after an accident, disregarding her discomfort and condition."
