A 21-year-old Reseda man is on trial for seven counts of Los Angeles County elder abuse and one count of torture. Cesar Ulloa is accused of assaulting elderly residents at Silverado Senior Living, a Calabasas retirement home where living costs run at about $70,000/year per resident.
Ulloa, a former low-level caregiver, is accused of targeting victims who were physically unable to report his attacks. During one alleged incident, he jumped off a dresser and landed on both knees on top of the belly of an elderly dementia patient. He also allegedly jumped on a 78-year-old female patient, who is mute because of a brain condition, and body slamming her into a bed.
Ulloa also allegedly punched one wheelchair-bound patient in the stomach. In another alleged assault incident, he took the arm of another wheelchair-bound patient and used it to hit a resident who has dementia in an attempt to goad them into fighting.
Ulloa, who was named Employee of the Month soon after he was hired at the upscale retirement home, came under suspicion when resident Elmore Kittower died in 2007. Someone called Kittower's widow and told her that her husband was beaten to death. His body was exhumed and multiple broken bones and signs of trauma were discovered.
Meantime, Ulloa's criminal defense lawyer claims his client his innocent. The Silverado Senior Living denies any wrongdoing. The high-end retirement home has surveillance cameras in the hallways but not in residents' bedrooms.
Prosecutors said that low-level caregivers generally are high school graduates with only days of training that are paid about $10/hour to care for elderly and ill residents.
California Elder Abuse
If your loved one was the victim of abuse or neglect at an assisted living facility or retirement home, he or she may be entitled to Los Angeles County nursing home negligence compensation. Nursing homes are supposed to make sure that they hire employees that are qualified, properly trained, have the experience to properly care for and treat residents and do not have a violent past. They also are supposed to protect patients from California nursing home abuse or neglect.
Nursing home worker on trial for abuse, UPI.com, March 31, 2010
Brutal abuse at Calabasas retirement home described in testimony, Los Angeles Times, March 30, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Silverado Senior Living
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
Elder Abuse, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
For your free case evaluation, contact our Los Angeles nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at Howard Law, Attorneys at Law
