Health aide charged with elder abuse after ignoring man who fell off bed

Lydia Lungile was arrested Wednesday on reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons charges. (Norwalk Police Department)

By Muri Assunção

A woman responsible for the care of an elderly man has been arrested on abuse charges, authorities in Connecticut said Thursday.

According to police, 40-year-old Lydia Lungile, of Newark, N.J., “ignored” the man she was supposed to attend to after he fell out of his bed.

Lungile was arrested in Orange, Connecticut, on Wednesday and charged with first-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons.

The arrest followed months of investigation, Norwalk Police Lt. Tomasz Podgorski  said in a news release.

In November 2023, the department’s special victims unit received a report of an alleged incident of elder abuse involving a man under the care of the Fairfield Family Care Center in Norwalk.

An elderly male had been left unattended and injured “after falling out of his bed during the overnight hours,” Podgorski said.

After interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence, detectives determined Lydia Lungile, who was in charge of the man’s care, had “ignored the victim.”

As a result of the investigation, police obtained a warrant for her arrest. SVU detectives then worked with an officer assigned to the United States Marshals Service Violent Fugitive Task Force to locate and arrest Lungile.

Her bond was set at $125,000 and she’s expected to face a judge on June 5, police said.

Fairfield Family Care has offered “comprehensive and compassionate elderly care and companion services” for families in Stamford, Conn. and surrounding areas for over 25 years, according to its website.

Lungile, who had been recently hired by the company, was “terminated directly after” the incident, a company spokesperson told the Hartford Courant.

“From what I understand she was suffering from allergies and took an allergy pill that made her drowsy and did not respond to the incident immediately,” the spokesperson said.

The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily News.

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Health aide charged with elder abuse after ignoring man who fell off bed