A mental health worker at Putnam Hospital Center in New York has been acquitted of all charges related to an altercation with a patient.
An investigation into Laverne Pinckney’s treatment of an elderly patient was launched after a call was made to the Vulnerable Persons Central Register Hotline accusing the hospital employee of recklessly endangering the patient’s safety, the Journal News reports.
Pinckney was found not guilty on all charges, including second-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and third-degree menacing.
Pinckney’s lawyer claimed that his client was the only person injured when he intervened on behalf of a nurse who was being attacked by a violent dementia patient in 2013. The lawyer also claimed that accusations made against Pinckney by a hospital security officer were racially motivated.
