NEWS - Caretaker goes gambling
South Florida is the place residents from the north come to retire, not to mention the abundance of snow birds that also make South Florida their permanent homes. Therefore abuse of our elderly is a 'crime' that should not be taken lightly. Recently on the news a 95 year old woman was left in a parked car while her caretaker went gambling. See the article below.
Coconut Creek, Fla -- Nurse leaves 95 year old woman in parked car and goes to Casino
A Boca Raton caretaker arrested for leaving a 95-year-old woman sitting in a parked car for two hours while she gambled at a Broward County casino appeared in court on Monday.
The woman, who suffers from dementia, was not hurt.
Mary Holly, 53, who said she is a licensed nurse and lives in her patient's Boca Raton home, fainted during her initial appearance in a courtroom. She's charged with one count of neglect of an elderly person.
When Holly was taken into custody on Sunday, there were two active warrants out for her arrest in Palm Beach County on unrelated charges of exploitation of an elderly person and grand theft, according to a police report. Details of those cases were not available Monday because of the Presidents’ Day holiday.
According to police, a visitor to the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, 5550 NW 40th Street, called police Sunday after noticing Belle Sapstein had been sitting alone inside of a silver Saturn for at least an hour. The car belongs to the elderly woman.
A Coconut Creek Police officer wrote in his report that Sapstein had no signs of distress, but that she couldn't answer any basic questions about herself or about her medical history. The woman was left alone without food, drink or a cellphone, according to the report.
Surveillance video at the casino showed that Holly drove up to the parking lot at 4:49 p.m. Sunday.
The officer was dispatched to the casino at 7:07 p.m., the report said.
Sapstein was taken to Northwest Medical Center in Margate. She was still listed as being a patient there on Monday afternoon.
Broward County Circuit Judge Louis Schiff ordered Holly to be held on a $6,000 bond and to have no contact with Sapstein.
Schiff also prohibited Holly from taking care of any patients until her criminal case is resolved.
"Had it not been for the Good Samaritan, this could've been a whole different scenario," Schiff said.
Luckily for Ms. Sapstein she was seen sitting the car for over a period of time by a "Good Samaritan" and the police was called to the scene, had she gone unnoticed who knows how long she would have been sitting in her car outside the casino. Any form of elderly abuse is considered a crime and in this case Ms. Sapstein's licensed nurse also had warrants in Palm Beach for unrelated charges but similar to this case. If this was your relative what would you do? First and foremost ensure that your loved one has no health issues stemming from this incident, then I would contact an Attorney experienced in abuse of the elderly to ensure that you know your loved one's rights. Contact us for your FREE consultation via telephone 954 431 8100 or 305 624 9186 or online.
