NJ police charge home health care worker with videotaped assault of ailing 91-year-old woman

Police: NJ health care worker assaulted woman, 91

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A home health care worker has been charged with aggravated assault and endangering an elderly person after video recordings showed her slapping and shoving a 91-year-old woman.

The Jersey City woman suffers from Alzheimer’s, congestive heart failure and diabetes and needs help eating and walking.

The woman’s daughters say they became suspicious when they noticed bruises on their mother.

Bernadina Samin (sah-MEEN’) says the family had a camera attached to a computer so they could communicate with her when they were away. She says a family member noticed images of the August incidents by accident. The videos were released by the Jersey City Police Department.

The family says Carmen Pereira had cared for their mother for 11 years. It was not immediately known if she had retained a lawyer.