New York Nursing Home Aide Ties Up Patient
Candice Pelzer pleaded not guilty to charges of endangering the welfare of a physically disabled or incompetent person and violating the public health law on Monday, May 4, 2009. She was released without bail.
The charges stem from a November 2008 incident. Pelzer was caring for an 80 year old female resident of Berkshire Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in West Babylon, New York on the midnight to 8 a.m. shift. The resident suffered from Parkinson's disease, respiratory diseases, dementia, and hypertension and "was incapable of caring for herself because of...physical disabilities and mental diseases". Peltzer bound the resident's legs together with a sheet during her eight hour shift "without advising anyone of restraint". Several witnesses saw the resident with her legs tied together, according to an affidavit signed by a nursing home official who questioned Pelzer. Pelzer admitted initially to tying the sheet around the resident but later said she only used it to wrap her legs.
The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us at 1 (888) 317-2525 or visit us at www.nursinghomejustice.com.
