ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Two people, including a 19-year-old, were arrested after they allegedly battered two residents at an assisted living facility earlier this week.
Rosa Edwards, 23, and Aneisha Hall, 19, were both charged with two counts of battery on a person 65 years of age or older.
Deputies began investigating on Tuesday, March 14, after learning about an incident that happened on Sunday, March 12. The executive director of Inspired Living at Ivy Ridge Assisted Living Facility reported the incident to deputies after catching the action on surveillance video, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.
A staff member initially reported it as a resident-on-resident battery, however, after looking into what was caught on camera, the director became suspicious of the claims.
Through investigating, deputies discovered that Edwards and Hall were the alleged initiators in an altercation with an elderly man at the assisted living facility.
According to the sheriff's office, the man was pushing an elderly woman down the hall in her wheelchair when Edwards allegedly began whipping the man with a lanyard and laughing. A fight then broke out between the two, deputies say.
"Edwards and Hall proceeded to grab the male resident and take him to the ground as he continued to hold on to the wheelchair, causing it to fall sideways with the female resident in it," the sheriff's office said in a news release.
At that moment, Edwards and Hall ran away from the area and out of the camera's view, leaving the two residents lying on the ground, the sheriff's office reports.
Following the scuffle, Edwards and Hall reportedly told a co-worker the elderly man battered the woman in the wheelchair, and they were not involved.
During an interview with deputies, Edward admitted to using excessive force while dealing with the residents and that she "should have handled it differently," the sheriff's office said.
Edwards and Hall were immediately suspended from working at Ivy Ridge Assisted Living Facility and following the investigation, they were both terminated, according to Brian Morrison, a spokesperson for the assisted living facility.
The two residents involved in the altercation received medical examinations that showed that neither resident suffered from any injuries and returned to the community, Morrison explained.
"The residents’ families have been notified. Both residents are doing well and continue to reside at Ivy Ridge," a statement from the assisted living facility said in a statement, in part. "The actions of the terminated employees are not a testimony or reflection of the long term committed staff that care for our moms and dads at Ivy Ridge. We take the responsibility for caring for our residents very seriously and stringently follow the hiring guidelines from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration."