New Mexico DOJ charges four people with abuse of assisted living residents
Update: Community Options sent the following statement in response to the charges filed against Sanchez.
“Community Options is committed to providing safe and supportive housing for people with disabilities and has a zero-tolerance policy for abuse or mistreatment of any kind. Upon learning of the incident, the employee was immediately suspended and subsequently terminated based on the investigation. We are fully cooperating with authorities to ensure that justice is served.”
Noemi Rivera, New Mexico State Director for Community Options
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."
