Four elderly residents allegedly abused by caretaker
Investigation into Calabasas facility alleges woman, 78, was body-slammed into her bed; a man, 83, was punched in the stomach; and a man, 80, sustained fractured ribs.
An investigation sparked by a suspicious death at an upscale senior living facility in Calabasas has expanded to include the alleged abuse of three more elderly residents, including a 78-year-old woman who was allegedly body-slammed into her bed, according to court records and interviews.
Keith Stubbs said he was told by authorities that a caregiver at Silverado Senior Living rousted his sleeping mother out of bed by "jumping on her chest." When she tried to defend herself, "he picked her up W.W.F.-style and slammed her onto the bed," Stubbs said, describing a popular move in televised World Wrestling Entertainment matches.
The Stubbs family and two others learned last week that their elderly loved ones were allegedly abused by former Silverado caregiver Cesar Ulloa. Stubbs said his mother suffers from a brain condition that left her unable to speak, "which makes her the perfect victim," he said.
Ulloa was arrested Oct. 2 after a nearly yearlong investigation into the death of 80-year-old Silverado resident Elmore Kittower, whose body was exhumed after an anonymous whistle-blower told authorities Kittower was beaten by a staff member minutes before he died.
An autopsy report released last week revealed that Kittower died of a blood clot in his lung. But the document also cited "blunt force trauma" as a contributing factor in his death. The report noted that Kittower's body was covered in bruises and had partly healed rib fractures that appeared to have happened within a month of his death.
Ulloa, a 20-year-old Reseda resident, was charged with four counts of elder abuse and one count of torture when he was arraigned last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court. He pleaded not guilty.
In addition to Kittower and Stubbs, Ulloa is accused of abusing Richard McDonough and Robert Turner, an 83-year-old retired Northrop Grumman employee who has dementia and is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, according to a family member.
McDonough's family could not be reached for comment.
Turner's nephew, Richard Skowronek, said authorities didn't go into detail about what was allegedly done to his uncle, other than that "he was punched in the stomach."
He said he and his wife were "dumbfounded" that such an assault could occur in a "top-notch" facility such as Silverado.
"I feel that in search of the almighty buck, they brought in some folks they didn't check out real carefully," he said in a telephone interview from his home in Georgia.
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