3 Jailed, 3 More Wanted in “Fight Club” Case

Beth Janicek — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:51:49 GMT

There have been some new developments in the “fight club” case in the Corpus Christi State School. As of Friday, Corpus Christi Police have arrested three of the six state workers accused of forcing mentally disabled residents into “fight-club” style brawls. In custody are Vince Johnson, 21, Timothy Dixon, 30, and Stephanie Garza, 21. Police are still seeking Jesse Salazar, 21, Guadalupe Delarosa, 21, and Dangelo Riley, 22.

Criminal charges against the six stem from allegations that for more than a year workers forced disabled residents into orchestrated, late-night fights. The employees were caught after videos of at least 20 fights were discovered on a cell phone that was lost and turned in to police. Four of the videos show residents sustaining injuries from these fights.

Johnson, Dixon (the owner of the cell phone), Salazar, Delarosa, and Riley are all charged with injury to a disabled person. Garza is charged with a state jail felony for allegedly failing to intervene to stop the fights. Arrest warrants allege that five of the employees encouraged, filmed or narrated these fights. Dangelo Riley is seen kicking a resident during a fight, and Timothy Dixon is accused of doing most of the filming and narration on his personal phone.

Since the “fight club” scandal surfaced the Department of Aging and Disability Services have made surprise overnight visits to every dorm in every state school. Gov. Rick Perry has ordered the installation of video cameras, the hiring of security guards, and adding overnight supervisors at all facilities.

Lawmakers are moving quickly to enact emergency state school safety legislation, which passed the Senate on Monday and got a hearing before the House Human Services Committee on Thursday. Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, told agency officials, “I encourage you to do everything you can right now, and I’m disappointed that we haven’t done more.” The bill would create an ombudsman to oversee abuse and neglect investigations, and would require employees to submit to random drug tests and fingerprinting.

Advocates for people with disabilities say that security guards and surveillance is only a “Band-aid” on a system that is in crisis. The system is so strapped for cash that it is forced to hire inexperienced, unprofessional employees, and these new measures do not go far enough. I agree. I do not think creating an ombudsman is going to solve the problem. We have TDADS watching over nursing homes and they do little in investigating and preventing abuse and neglect of another vulnerable group, the elderly.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Beth Janicek

“Fight club” Investigated at Home For the Disabled

Beth Janicek — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:57:36 GMT

Seven employees at a state-run home for the mentally disabled in Corpus Christi have been suspended for staging a "fight club" where disabled residents were forced to shove, punch, and strike each other.

Corpus Christi Police Captain Tim Wilson said that the fight club was uncovered when someone gave a cell phone containing videos of the fights to an off-duty police officer. The videos, which date back to 2007, show mentally disabled male clients fighting each other while the employees watched.

Wilson said, “It’s pretty appalling. I’ve been in police work over 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like this. These people who were charged with caring for these clients were exploiting them for entertainment.”

The videos show seven current and four former employees, most of which have been identified. The current employees have been placed on emergency leave pending the investigation and charges are expected to be filed later this week.

Laura Albrecht, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, which oversees state school institutions said, “Any abuse or neglect of residents placed in our care will not be tolerated.”

In addition to the Corpus Christi Police, the abuse allegations are being investigated by Texas Adult Protective Services, the Health and Human Services’ office of Inspector General, and the Nueces County District Attorney.

These allegations are just the latest claims of abuse to surface in the long-troubled state school system. They come as the Texas Legislature has begun taking measures to improve these institutions. These measures include requiring fingerprinting, background checks, and random drug testing of all state school employees. Lawmakers even want to create an ombudsman to investigate injuries and deaths and to oversee an abuse-and-neglect hot line.

These measures, while they are a step in the right direction, are not enough to improve these troubled institutions. People with disabilities deserve the same amount of respect and care that anyone would expect to receive; and it is important to take every measure possible to make sure that they are well taken care of. Governmental immunity will protect these employees and the state hospital from a personal injury claim by any patients injured by this incident.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Beth Janicek

San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer - mentally disabled

3 Jailed, 3 More Wanted in “Fight Club” Case

“Fight club” Investigated at Home For the Disabled