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AG: Two Ensley Assisted Living Caregivers Abandoned Elderly Resident Along Road, Stole ID, Debit Card
August 3, 2021
Two Ensley assisted living facility caregivers are accused of stealing identification and a debit card from an elderly resident before abandoning them on the side of the road on a “particularly hot day” in 2019.
Following an investigation by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Tavetta Lavetta Jones and Tekera Levine were arrested over the weekend on charges related to abuse and exploitation of a senior.
As employees of Whispering Pines Assisted Living Facility on Jo Jo Road in Ensley, Jones and Levine were supposed to transfer the victim to sign bond paperwork. Instead, Jones and Levine, Jones’s manager, abandoned the victim on the side of a road and took the victim’s identification card and debit card. Jones is charged with exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult, and criminal use of personal identification information. Levine faces a charge of accessory after the fact.
“The scheme concocted and carried out by these two caregivers is horrifying—the women abused their positions to steal a patient’s ID and debit card, then abandoned the senior victim on the side of the road. Thankfully, following an investigation by my Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, these suspects have been arrested and will face serious charges for this criminal scheme,” AG Moody said.
The state investigation revealed that Jones, an employee of Whispering Pines, abandoned an elderly resident on Antioch Cemetery Road in Walton County on September 3, 2019. The elderly victim identified Jones and Levine as the facility employees who orchestrated the abandonment and identified a black Volkswagen as the vehicle Jones was driving while abandoning the victim. Jones and Levine left the victim without a phone, water, money or identification on a “particularly hot day”, according to the state.
Levine, the manager of Whispering Pines, gave varying accounts about the occurrence of the abuse and Jones’s involvement. Phone records placed both Jones and Levine in Walton County near the time law enforcement responded to a 911 call by residents on Antioch Cemetery Road. Phone records also place Jones in the vicinity of ATMs where the victim’s debit card and personal identification number were used to gain access to the victim’s bank account during August and September 2019. Video footage places a black Volkswagen or similar vehicle at the ATMs during the transactions involving the victim’s debit card and PIN.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrested Jones on one count of exploitation of an elderly person, a third-degree felony; one count of criminal use of personal identification information of a person over 60 years of age and one count of criminal use of personal identification information over $5,000, both second-degree felonies. If convicted on all counts, Jones faces a possible sentence of up to 35 years in state prison. She was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $5,000 bond.
ECSO arrested Levine on one count of accessory after the fact, a third-degree felony. If convicted, Levine faces a possible sentence of up to five years in state prison. She was also released from jail on a $5,000 bond.
The cases will be prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Christi Hankins of MFCU through an agreement with Ginger Bowden Madden, State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida.
Comments
21 Responses to “AG: Two Ensley Assisted Living Caregivers Abandoned Elderly Resident Along Road, Stole ID, Debit Card”
I am a CNA 57 years old I have done this all my life trust me CNAs do not make that much money and I’m not there for the money I’m there for the patient I am good at what I do and my problem is I fall in love with most of them too fast I do my work I’ll see you guys are not bad yesc the agencies have a list of yes you can do no you can’t but you know that don’t always work like that I do over my limit when I’m with my patients and I cared for each and every one of them just like the one I’m sending with now and believe me it’s not just caregivers that can be abusive the patients can be very verbal mental and physically violent and abusive to the caregivers. I have worked in nursing homes too and I always preferred the fighters because nobody wanted to deal with them I have been knocked in closets spit on bit slapped you name it I’ve had it and I have never ever touched a patient in the wrong way or got mad at them because most of them didn’t even realize what they were doing.
As a Nurse ive sadly seen worse!! No consequences good enough 4 these EVIL duo
They probably just get probation. Two more reasons for birth control
So she was released on $5000 and she stole $5000? Does that mean the victim actually paid her bond?!?
How many others did they scam out of money or worse???
@Susan,
that might be your gig but that is not mine. My insurance pays for baths, toileting, house work, even to go get my groceries. These agencies say “oh yes we do all that” then they send you some lazy poor mouthing individual that wants to do as little as possible and get paid for it. Then you call the company and they say “well it is up to the care giver to do XYZ its policy”.
It is all a lie and scam to get you enrolled in the agency just so they can do as little for you as possible to maximize the money they get from the state just so they can go on Jamaican vacations and yes I know a few heads of these agencies. All while the clients suffer in silence at the hands of people like these ladies. That is exactly how they operate and if you complain the agency will drop you immediately telling you to find another agency they can not provide the care needed (been there done that). Poof that is it… you then have to go through a 2-3 week process of getting care again.
THAT is what is wrong with the system and the people involved, making money off the elderly and disabled and their suffering, sending people looking for easy money to prey on them.
There are VERY FEW good kind hearted care providers I have met in my life time… very very few.
If you are in the care business at the low end of the totem pole you better be in it because you care about people… not for “easy” money.
So no, I do not have to rethink my statement. I’m in it, I’ve dealt with it, I’ve lived it… I know what the score is.
these 2 are worthless and will continue to be scumbags.
These 2 scums need to live 99% of the rest of their lives in the state prison and then be dropped off on a hot day in the middle of nowhere without water a cell phone or identification so they can think about what they did to this senior citizen!
Abandoning an elderly person on the side of the road in the summer in FL is attempted murder. How did they think they were going to get away with this caper?!
@mnon, I took a ‘companion’ position with a well known home health agency here in Pensacola when my kids were in college. A companion was paid 2.00 less per hour than the CNA ‘s. A companion is just that. I was supposed to keep the client company, reheat a meal, clean up after the meal, walk with them if needed. If the client wanted laundry done the agency charges them extra for that but that doesn’t increase the companions pay. If I took them to a Dr. appt. the agency expected me to take my car.
I was NOT supposed to be expected to help them with any personal care needs. Toileting, bathing, etc. Waiting for a client at the bathroom door is way different than someone demanding you wipe their bum. And their wife is in the kitchen and just doesn’t want to do it. People want a CNA and don’t want to pay for it. Both the agency and the client pressure you to do things you were not hired for.
In conclusion, there is no home health agency in existence that is going to have paid time off once a week you might want to re think that statement.
Ah yes, two upstanding members of our community. Scumbags.
Ladies, When your time is up in this world, you’ll both be begging for a big bucket of water. You’ll both need it where you’re going.
This makes me so angry. If this had happened to my parent, believe me, those “caregivers?” would run and put themselves in prison for protection from me. To be honest? It wouldn’t matter if it were my parent, it would be any elderly person that was abused. I love elderly people, and if I EVER saw anyone abusing an elderly person, they would think a mama bear was a pussy cat when I got done with them. My room mate, once, slapped his dad, whom was living with us, and I went off the deep end and threatened to turn him in if I ever saw him abuse his dad again. Praying for the victim. I wish I could give him/her a hug.
Disgraceful! Ladies, you reap what you sow. It boggles my mind the depravity & greed of so called human beings. How did you really think that you could get away with something like this? Even if that elderly person died there on the side of the road, they would still be traced back to you. You two are pure evil.
God bless this pure elderly person for surviving & not being as weak as they thought you were.
Good job nailing these two pillars of the community. Here’s hoping they get the maximum punishment possible.
Out them in NON-A/C cells and make double restitution.
Only 5 years should be 10 plus
Lock them up and throw away the Key.
Sickening that there are people who do this hateful, pathetic crime against people. They don’t even think about their own family or what if someone did this to people they care about…they don’t care. Throw them in prison and let them rot. They are pure garbage. Blessings to the victim. Bless their heart.
On a particularly hot day, make them pick up some trash to get a taste of what they did to victim! Sorry people!
There should be no plea deals and they should be sentenced to the maximum amount…I hope she gets the 35 years and the other the 5 years ..this is disgusting…
Take out the trash
These Marxist Liberals want to scream defund or restructure… our healthcare system is what is in serious need of restructuring.
I’ve been at the mercy of these home health agencies for five years. These ladies might be CNA’s but the ones with home care agencies are worse. They hire anyone off the street because you don’t need to be a CNA to assist someone in their home.
These places would send me these type women with one inch long werewolf nails, slowly dragging their slides around when asked to do something. I had one that would do absolutely nothing but watch my TV for 7h a day only getting me something to drink or warming up a microwave meal.
People like this are predators, they care nothing about the person they are assigned to CARE for. I’ve had women like this poor mouth me every visit, taking advantage of my kindness hitting me up for $20-$30 nearly every visit.
I’ve even had one that was a friend of a previous care giver and only took the job because they were told all they had to do was sit with old people. As soon as they found out I had them actually work every visit they started calling in once a week for paid time off, leaving me without a bath or the ability to use the toilet.
This story is truly no shocker to me… there are dozens of people daily right now being abused and/or taken advantage of by people exactly like these two.