Caregiver accused in beating

The man is arrested on a felony charge after an Alzheimer's patient is roughed up.

By THOMAS LAKE, Times Staff Writer
Published September 25, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - One man slugged another man last Thursday. He punched him in the face, knocked him to the floor, pushed him against a wall, pressed a forearm to his throat.

None of those details make the incident especially newsworthy.

These do:

The victim of the beating was a 78-year-old Alzheimer's patient.

The suspect worked at the victim's assisted-living facility, ostensibly as a certified nursing assistant.

The state has no record of a nursing license for a man by the suspect's name.

But it does have records for his prior felony convictions, including one for battery on a law-enforcement officer.

And the facility - the New Port Inn on Congress Street - would not explain why he was on the payroll.

Here's what happened that morning, according to police reports:

About 3:45 a.m. inside the five-story brick-and-stucco building, John Walker, 78, was walking around with a name plate in his hand. A nursing assistant tried to take it from him, but he wouldn't let go. She asked William Charewicz for help.

Charewicz is 54 and listed his address as 4636 Cottonwood Drive in New Port Richey. His occupation is listed on the police report as certified nursing assistant. When he tried to take the name plate, Walker accidentally struck him in the face.

Charewicz got angry, a report said, citing the accounts of two fellow employees. He pushed Walker against a wall, holding a forearm to his throat. He hit Walker on the face and head. He walked Walker to his room.

Walker came out of his room and said something to Charewicz. And Charewicz lunged at Walker, punched him in the face, knocked him to the ground, picked him up and once again walked him to his room, the report said.

A police officer found Walker with scratch marks on his left biceps and redness on his right cheek. His right eye was bloodshot. He remained at the facility Monday.

Police arrested Charewicz on a felony charge of battery on a person older than 65. He was held without bail Monday at the Land O'Lakes jail. It was his sixth arrest in Florida, state records show. Of the five prior arrests, three were for DUI charges, one was for grand theft of a vehicle and one, from 1992, resulted in charges of fleeing and eluding and battery on a law enforcement officer.

A sheriff's report in that case says that Charewicz fled drunk from a deputy at 80 mph in a 45 mph zone and then wrestled with two deputies, leaving one of them with a hand injury. He pleaded guilty in the case, receiving probation and a 30-day jail sentence.

It was unclear Monday how he got the job at the New Port Inn, or whether his hiring fell within state guidelines.

Shelisha Durden, a spokeswoman for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, said state law requires assisted-living facilities to conduct criminal background checks on prospective caregivers.

Some felony convictions disqualify an applicant from being hired. But if the felony occurred more than three years before application, the applicant can ask for an exemption.

New Port Inn has a license that is in good standing, Durden said, and the state is not currently investigating the beating incident.

Charewicz was convicted of grand theft of a motor vehicle on March 27, 2007, state records show. He is on felony probation.

Officials for New Port Inn refused to answer questions Monday afternoon. As three of them gathered in an office with a box fan humming on the floor, administrator Susan Hines read this prepared statement:

"At this point, we have no comment other than we are working with the appropriate agencies and conducting an internal investigation. Once our investigation is complete, we'll take appropriate action, if any action is necessary."

A St. Petersburg Times reporter posed several questions involving the facility's hiring practices. But regional operations director Ken Homer dismissed them.

"The meeting is over," he said.

Times researcher Shirl Kennedy contributed to this report. Thomas Lake can be reached at tlake@sptimes.com or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245.

[Last modified September 24, 2007, 22:30:54]