Thursday, 4:30 PM
Warrant issued for woman charged with elder abuse
By John Ellement and Mac Daniel, Globe Staff
LAWRENCE - A Lawrence woman accused of physically abusing an elderly nursing home patient in May failed to appear in Lawrence District Court today, and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Maria Cruz, 46, was working as a certified nursing assistant at the Sutton Hill Center in North Andover on May 8 when between 10 and 11 p.m. she and two other nursing assistants were called to a patient’s room, where a senile 86-year-old woman was trying to get out of bed.
Prosecutors for Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said in court documents filed in Lawrence District Court today that two of the nursing assistants were trying to place the woman back into bed when they “witnessed Cruz step on [the woman’s] face and angrily state in English and Spanish words to the effect of ‘Stay in bed.’ ”
At the time, Cruz was wearing a pair of white Reebok rubber soled nursing shoes. The witnesses said she took her left foot and stepped on the right side of the woman’s face. Documents said one of the nursing assistants ordered Cruz to stop.
The two nursing assistants immediately reported Cruz to a supervisor and the nursing home reported the incident to the state Department of Public Health, which led to the criminal investigation by the Attorney General’s office.
Karla Rossi, administrator of the North Andover facility, said Cruz was fired after the incident, adding that there’s a “zero tolerance” for abuse at the center.
The prosecution of Cruz is the first under a new state law supported by Reilly that seeks enhanced penalties for those who abuse the elderly and disabled.
