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September 1, 20233 Valleywise Health employees arrested after patient is left at Phoenix park
Three employees of Valleywise Behavioral Health Center were arrested on Friday accused of abusing a patient in their care, Phoenix police said.
On July 22, Phoenix police said they responded to a call regarding the abuse of a man living with quadriplegia near Seventh and Minnezona avenues. According to police, the victim’s mother was the one who found the man, who was not identified by police, and called 911.
The officers spoke to the victim and witnesses and obtained video evidence from the victim’s mother, according to Phoenix police.
Police said that in their investigation, they found that the three employees from Valleywise’s Mayvale campus took the victim from the hospital to a nearby park in a wheelchair and left him there on July 22.
It was not immediately clear if the suspects remained employed at the hospital as Valleywise Health did not respond to a request for comment.
Additional information regarding the incident was not made available by police.
According to the National Weather Service, July was the hottest month on record in Arizona, and Phoenix was the hottest major metropolitan city. According to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, at least 180 people have died due to heat-associated causes.
A grand jury indicted the suspects, identified by police as 53-year-old Luis Garcia, 39-year-old Eric Espinoza and 37-year-old Kalen Powell, on Aug. 21 on criminal abuse charges.
All three were booked into Maricopa County Jail, according to police.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 3 hospital employees arrested after patient is left at Phoenix park
