Oct 3, 2008 7:42 am US/Pacific
Abuse Suspected In Man's Death At Senior Home
CALABASAS
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Four former employees at Silverado Senior Living in Calabasas have been arrested on suspicion of elder abuse.
CBS
Four ex-employees of an upscale Calabasas assisted-living facility were arrested on suspicion of elder abuse in connection with the death of an 80-year-old resident last year, it was reported Friday.
The four were accused of abusing Elmore Kittower, a retired engineer whose body was exhumed in November after an anonymous source from Silverado Senior Living told Kittower's family and authorities that he was the victim of foul play, the Los Angeles Times reported.
After an 11-month investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide detectives said they have evidence that 20-year-old Cesar Ulloa physically assaulted Kittower in the minutes before his death and had been tormenting him for months, The Times reported.
Ulloa, who faces potential charges of elder abuse and torture, is being held on $1 million bail.
Also arrested were Luis Arrelleano, 21, of Winnetka, Juan Soto, 21, of Winnetka and Maria Gomez, 34, of Oxnard, The Times reported.
Detectives described Ulloa as the alleged ringleader of a group of former Silverado employees who routinely harassed and abused Kittower and several other residents of the hillside facility, which specializes in caring for Alzheimer's and other memory-impaired patients, according to The Times.
The Los Angeles County coroner's office ultimately determined that Kittower died of a blood clot in his lung, but indicated he had suffered blunt force trauma, though it was not an immediate cause of death, a source familiar with the findings told The Times.
"This is something that saddens us very much. We are outraged at the possibility that these allegations are possibly true," Mark Mostow, a spokesman for Silverado, told the newspaper.
Kittower's 84-year-old widow, Rita, told The Times she was grateful to detectives for pursuing the case, but was devastated by their findings. The Kittowers were married 49 years.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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