MFCU: AG Moody Announces Arrest of Two Group-Home Employees for Beating a Disabled Floridian

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, with the assistance of the Ocoee Police Department and Winter Haven Police Department, arrested two Central Florida men for abusing a disabled adult. According to an investigation by MFCU, the group-home caregivers, Charles Brown and Taquan Dozier, kicked and slapped a patient during a power outage at a group home facility. A night-vision camera captured the assault in the dark.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “It is reprehensible that caregivers would treat a disabled adult this way, especially during a high-stress situation like a power outage. I am thankful the night-vision video camera was able to catch the criminals’ actions, as the cloak of darkness might have concealed these violent acts. These criminals will not go unpunished, and they will face justice.”

Beechdale Group Home formerly employed the defendants as caregivers to the disabled residents. During a power outage, the victim became upset and began destroying the blinds at the facility. Surveillance video equipped with night vision showed Brown kick, and Dozier slap, the disabled adult, instead of employing approved de-escalation procedures.

Brown and Dozier each face one count of abuse of a disabled adult, a third-degree felony. The State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit will prosecute this case.