Fawn Township personal care home worker charged with assault
FAWN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - A personal care home worker is accused of assaulting a 74-year-old man in Armstrong County.
According to court paperwork, the victim told state police he was shoved by 43-year-old Luke Bondra at Fawn Care in Fawn Township Sunday night. The victim said he left the home because he didn't want to go back to the "bully" and was picked up by a bystander then taken to the hospital.
Troopers said Bondra told them he was trying to give the victim medicine when the victim became upset and shoved his walker into Bondra's leg. Police said Bondra admitted to shoving the walker back, knocking the victim over into a TV.
Bondra told investigators he didn't check on the victim after he fell and realized "some point later in the evening" that the victim had left the care facility.
The victim had a cut on his arm and bruising on his ribs, hip and leg, police said.
"It's very unfortunate. We will not tolerate that kind of action," said Fawn Personal Care owner Gerry Faerewyck.
Vaerewyck said Bondra has worked at the facility for about 3 to 4 years and there weren't any red flags when he bought the home about a month ago.
"When we bought it, we went through another background check and screenings, didn't have any reason to believe any issues," said Vaerewyck.
Vaerewyck said he notified the man's family right away after he learned what had happened, and also notified the families of all residents in the facility.
KDKA went to Bondra's home Monday and knocked on the door to try to get a response, but no one answered.
Vaerewyck said he's working on what to do next.
"We are going to review all of our policies in detail and I'm sure the state is going to be more than happy to do that as well," said Vaerewyck.
As for the injured resident, Vaerewick hopes he comes back.
"We really like him. He was a good resident. Our other staff misses him a lot so we would love to see him come back here," said Vaerewick.
State police said the resident is not returning to the facility. They said he will be staying with his daughter until she finds a new facility for him to go to.
Bondra is charged with simple assault, harassment and neglect of a care dependent person. He's scheduled to appear in court next week.