Family Furious After Home Health Aide Allegedly Tied Up Queens Woman
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A home health care worker in Queens has been arrested, on accusations that he tied up her elderly patient.
As CBS2's Ilana Gold reported, the victim's family said they recorded everything.
The surveillance footage taken inside Yvonne Wilson's apartment in Long Island City shows the 69-year-old dementia patient restrained in her arms wrapped to her body with bed sheets.
Wilson's daughter, Chantar Reviere, said her mother's caretaker tied her up.
"I was devastated. I was really upset," said Reviere said. "I was like, 'Oh my God, my mom!'"
Reviere is outraged. She is the one who set up the hidden camera in her mother's place, and recorded the alleged abuse on Feb. 18. She said she watched it from work as it happened and immediately called the caretaker.
"I was like: 'Untie my mom! Untie my mom!' (She said), 'What are you talking about?' (I said), 'Untie my mom!' She said, 'I didn't know how she got like that.' She said she didn't do it," Reviere said.
When asked what the caretaker's explanation was, Reviere said the caretaker had no explanation at all.
That was the last time the caretaker worked with Wilson. Reviere filed a police report identifying the aide as Singo Omega.
The NYPD said it has been trying to track down Omega ever since, and charge her with unlawful imprisonment.
Reviere said her mother remembers the incident.
"She remembers what happened, that, 'She tied me up, she hurt me.'" Reviere said.
Wilson's family said they hired Omega through Continental Home Care out of Forest Hills, Queens, and also reported the problems to the agency.
CBS2 went to Continental Home Health Care for a comment, but got referred to a lawyer. The attorney said the agency suspended Omega while it investigates, and once it gets all the facts it will take appropriate measures.
The attorney also said Omega turned herself in to authorities on Friday afternoon. But that was cold comfort for Reviere.
"That's really sad, because I reported it in February," she said. "This is May."
Wilson's loved ones have since hired an attorney, and while he has not seen the entire surveillance video, he has looked at a still image and called the caretaker's behavior outrageous.
"There's just never an excuse for a caretaker to tie up their patient like that," sad attorney Justin Varughese. "It's against the law. It's against the regulations that dictate what their conduct should be as caretakers."
The state Department of Health also got a report about the abuse allegations in the apartment building where Wilson lives.
The attorney for the home care company said the worker in question passed the required background check, and that she has been suspended without pay during the investigation.