Samantha Grover, a Certified Nurse Aid, pled guilty to a felony for punching an 87-year-old man in the face and pushing him onto the ground. On October 18, 2016, the judge sentenced Grover to weekends in jail for four months, followed by five years of probation. In addition, her nurse aide license has been revoked.
On October 17, 2015, Grover, then an employee at James Square Health and Rehabilitation Centre in Syracuse, New York hit a nursing home resident in the face and then pushed him – causing him to fall onto a piece of furniture. The elderly victim, whose name was not released, suffered from impingement syndrome of the right shoulder and a rotator cuff strain. Witnesses reported the attack to the James Square administration, who then notified the police. After working at the nursing home for four years, Grover’s employment was terminated.
Before her case was presented to the grand jury, Grover pled guilty to the felony of Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled person in the First Degree. In exchange for her guilty plea, the Attorney General agreed to drop her additional charge of making a false statement the nursing home about the attack.
Upon announcing the guilty plea, New York Attorney General Schneiderman said, “Caregivers are entrusted with the health and safety of nursing home residents, and to intentionally cause physical harm to a resident is a gross violation of that trust.” Further, Schneiderman promised, “My office will continue working to root out and prosecute nursing home abuse.”
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