North Austin nursing home employee arrested after disturbing incident
UPDATE: 23-year-old Carlos Alberto Santacruz has been arrested and charged with Injury to the Elderly.
According to the Pflugerville Police Department, officers located and arrested Santacruz at his residence without incident at approximately 4 pm on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.
An employee at a North Austin nursing home has been suspended. He reportedly played a cruel joke on one of the patients and then posted the video to social media. The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services is investigating, along with the Austin Police Department. We want to warn you, what you're about to see is disturbing.
The images are disturbing. They show an elderly woman with what appears to be feces on her right hand. Then a nurse aide reportedly tickles her nose with some type of feather. It was all shared on Snapchat.
"Basically just rubbing feces all over her face and I lost it. I messaged him and I was like, 'this is sick. You could lose your job and all this kind of stuff.' He just laughed. He was like, 'who's going to make me lose my job? not you,'" says Jasmyn Long, reported incident.
Jasmyn Long couldn't believe it, so she took a screenshot as proof. She tell us she knows the man through his younger brother.
"What in your head made you think... let me record this, it will be funny. Like no, it's really going to mess you up in the end too because you were dumb enough to just record something for your amusement," says Long.
The certified nurse-aide works at Windsor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Duval. The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services confirms that he has been suspended pending investigation. They say they will ensure the facility takes all appropriate actions and has procedures in place to keep residents safe.
"It bothered me really bad because I've grown up around nursing homes. I know it's hard. If you're not capable of doing it, then don't be in that environment. It's hard, I understand, but it's not right to do the things that were done," says Long.
The nursing home sent us this statement Wednesday:
"While we cannot respond to specifics related to any resident's care, we are working with local authorities to review the matter. Protecting the privacy, dignity, and rights of our residents is always our greatest concern as a care provider. We will take all necessary steps to ensure our residents are protected and cared for in the most respectful manner."
Long says her intention was not to get anyone in trouble but instead, to stop this from happening.
"He was like, 'I would never let my parents be in a place like this.' I was like, 'so you're going to work in a place like that, where you take care of other people's relatives or parents, and you're not going to treat them the way you would treat your parents? Why are you there then?'" says Long.
The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services says they encourage anyone who suspects abuse or neglect in long-term care facilities to report their concerns, by calling toll-free 1-800-458-9858.