Miami-Dade State Attorney, County Take Aim At Elderly Abuse

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava have launched a new initiative to protect the elderly and the disabled.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Rundle showed a disturbing example of a man at a group home who being restrained by facility staff.

The man, who was a resident at The Family Tree Concept group home in North Miami, was mentally disabled and was threatening to leave the facility.

Rundle pointed out in the video where the staff members pinned the man to the floor.

She said these individuals were poorly trained to deal with a person who is mentally disabled and had little training in how to restrain a person with injuring them.

"When in this case the resident told the staff members he was going to elope from the residence, two staff members attempted to stop him from leaving by physically wrestling him down to the ground", said Rundle.  "And while attempting to restrain the resident, the staff members apparently used physical techniques that were not a good idea to subdue the individual. In the process the resident became unresponsive. He stopped breathing and ultimately died".

According to the medical examiner, the man died from suffocation.

A special group called the Elder and Vulnerable Adult Task Force was created to properly train those dealing with the elderly and those with special needs.  There is also an investigative component to the group which will look into possible crimes.

Prosecutors charged the three workers seen in the video with manslaughter and abuse of a disabled adult.