FREEPORT, N.Y. — A nursing home worker let his ailing mother lie on the floor of their home for two days, stepping over her when he had to and not calling 911 until she was malnourished and dehydrated, police said Friday.
When he finally called 911 and officers got to her, the 64-year-old woman was soiled with her feces and urine, according to police in Long Island’s Nassau County. She suffered cardiac and respiratory arrest on the way to a hospital; she was in critical condition and on life support Friday.
The son was identified as 45-year-old Lacy Reid, of Freeport, a porter at a nursing home in North Woodmere. He was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, which carries as many as seven years in prison. The district attorney’s office didn’t know whether he had a lawyer.
“For whatever reason, he consciously disregarded the health of his mother and went off to work,” said Lt. Kevin Smith. “Not summoning any help, not offering her any help, just going about his business.”
Police believe Reid’s relationship with his mother had been strained, Smith said. Reid is unmarried.
“Instead of acting with compassion and care, he was cold and cruel,” the lieutenant said.
The woman, whose name was not made public, fell in the kitchen on Tuesday night, he said. The son “heard a large crash or thump” but did not investigate, Smith said. The next morning, he found her unresponsive on the floor but did not try to help, Smith said.
“He stepped over her, he stepped around her, he got ready for work and he left for work,” the lieutenant said.
The same thing happened Wednesday night and Thursday morning. On Thursday night, when he came home from work, Reid found his mother at the threshold of the front door.
“She had apparently dragged herself from the kitchen area to the front hall in a possible attempt to get herself help,” Smith said. Some of her clothing had come off as she crawled on the floor, he said.
Reid finally called Freeport police, who questioned mother and son and sent the woman to Nassau University Medical Center. While in the ambulance or just as she arrived, she suffered a heart attack, Smith said.
Smith said it isn’t known what caused the mother’s fall or what injury prevented her from getting up. She could drive and was fine the day before, he said.