By Joe Johnson
A caregiver was arrested this week for allegedly roughing up a disabled person at the victim’s residence, according to an Athens-Clarke County police report.
The 25-year-old victim’s mother notified police on July 19 that the caregiver notified her by phone that her son had “acted up and that he had to ‘take him down in order to restrain/calm him,” the report stated.
The purported victim “incurred visual injuries and his glasses were broken as a result of the incident,” according to the report.
The mother told police she had surveillance cameras within the home “and upon reviewing the incident, it was apparent that (her son) did not need to be restrained/calmed,” according to the police report.
“She stated that the recording showed (her son) being grabbed from behind, unprovoked…on two different occasions,” the report states. “On the second occasion (the caregiver) grabbed (the victim) from behind while he was at the dinner table and ‘threw him to the ground. Once on the ground, (the mother) states that the suspect laid on top of (her son) for nearly two minutes as (her son) attempted to wiggle free.”
The woman provided police with a video of the incident, according to the report.
The name of the suspect, and the company or agency that employed him, were redacted from the police report, because a police spokesman said such information concerning crimes against disabled persons was exempted from disclosure under the Georgia Open Records Act.
However, on Monday, 40-year-old Robert Lamont Jackson of Conyers was booked into the Clarke County Jail on an arrest warrant associated with the case number assigned to a police report concerning the incident.
The warrant charged Jackson with felony exploiting/inflicting pain to deprive essential services to a disabled person, according to the jail’s website.
Jackson was released Monday night upon posting a $2,500 good security bond, according to the jail.