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Regal Park / Colonial Assisted Living Aides Arrested for Duct Taping; False Imprisonment of Demented Patient
Three aides at Regal Park assisted living facility, located in Boynton Beach, Florida, have been arrested for elder abuse. The shocking allegations involve the three aides duct taping a dementia resident into her chair, immobilizing her hands and feet, with her mouth taped shut. When detectives pressed the aide on why they bound this elderly, confused resident by her hands, feet and mouth, police were reportedly told she had other residents to watch.
Regal Park, also known as Colonial Assisted Living at Boynton Beach, is an assisted living facility located at 1708 NE 4th Street, less than 2 miles from our office. Our Boynton Beach nursing home abuse lawyers are familiar with the facility. This kind of elder abuse is harrowing regardless of the location. However, when the incident makes news and takes place right around the corner, it is particularly disturbing.
Allegations of Elder Abuse
The three aides arrested are Phygelle Brudent, Lashron Williams and Sherlie Tesyeux.
Police allege that the assisted living aides bound a 67 year old dementia patient to her chair, then duct taped her mouth shut and her arms and legs down. One aide admitted to taping down the frail resident in a chair and taping her hands and feet. When the resident began to protest, the aide allegedly duct taped her mouth shut to keep her from screaming.
Apparently, Brudent claims she was frustrated with the resident and had other patients to assist. It is unclear whether the facility had the appropriate amount of qualified staff to handle confused, high-needs residents. If the facility was understaffed, this may be a cause of the aide’s frustration. Short-staffing of a facility leads to horrific incidents of elder abuse and neglect, potentially like the one we are now learning about at Regal Park.
Lashron Williams reportedly told police they removed the vulnerable resident’s duct tape from her mouth in order to give her sleeping pills. Unless medically indicated, using medication to quiet patients is another form of abuse and can fall under medication misuse in nursing homes.
The Regal Park / Colonial Assisted Living resident remains anonymous at this time.
How Was the Abuse Discovered in a Non-Verbal Patient?
An anonymous caller reported the incident to the local authorities. In this case, luckily, a Good Samaritan reported the abuse before it could happen again. Sadly, the NCOA believes that only 1 in 14 instances of elder abuse ever get reported.
State Investigations into the Regal Park Boynton Incident
Dual investigations are currently being performed by the Department of Children and Families Elder Abuse Division and AHCA. These investigations are ongoing but AHCA’s findings will be made public once complete. DCF reports are usually confidential and only available to the parties involved, their attorneys and the court system.
Regal Park & Colonial Assisted Living at Boynton Ownership’s Response
Regal Park, also known as Colonial Assisted Living at Boynton, is a large, for profit 90 bed assisted living facility owned and operated by Ricki Kaneti. In an email to the Sun Sentinel, Kaneti stated:
“The important fact here is that everyone at the facility is flourishing and that all the residents are safely enjoying their quality of life. The family and loved ones have all recuperated from the incident, and are pleased with the steps and operations here at the Boynton Beach community.”
Wall of Shame
Mugshots of the assisted living aides are featured below.
Phygelle Brudent, Lashron Williams and Sherlie Tesyeux will all now face criminal charges of elder abuse and false imprisonment for duct taping a vulnerable dementia resident into a chair on July 3, 2018.
Read the Arrest from Boynton Beach Police Department
Click here to read the arrest.
Prior Incidents at Colonial Assisted Living at Boynton and Regal Park
The assisted living facility was visited by State of Florida investigators as recently as January of 2018 due to an announced relicensure survey. The 1/24/2018 survey resulted in the following cited deficiencies by AHCA:
- Colonial Assisted Living at Boynton, a.k.a. Regal Park Assisted Living, Inc., failed to ensure each resident’s medication observation record was accurate.
- The assisted living facility failed to ensure centrally stored medications were kept in a locked/secured cart during observation by state officials.
- The Boynton A.L.F. failed to ensure a yearly comprehensive emergency management plan that was submitted for review and approval by the Emergency Management authorities.
All 3 of these citations were Class III deficiencies.
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