VENICE – The owner of a Venice nursing home faces criminal charges of elder abuse following a long-term investigation by Venice Police dating back to December 2022.
Hillel Feuerman, 32, of Boca Raton, was charged July 26 with neglect of elderly or disabled adults without great bodily injury – a third-degree felony – at the Venice Center Pavilion, 200 N. Nassau Street in Venice.
Broward County sheriff’s deputies served the warrant and he was released on $5,000 bail, with a court appearance scheduled for August 9. In Sarasota County.
Police in reports and court documents, as well as at a news conference Friday, detailed a series of problems at the facility and cited a failure to correct them.
Feuerman did not respond to a phone message from a Herald-Tribune reporter seeking comment Friday evening.
The building opened in 1926 as the Venice Hotel, but in recent decades has served as an assisted living and memory care facility.
It suffered damage from Hurricane Ian, which resulted in increased concern that the historic structure could be demolished.
Feuerman has owned the facility through 509 W. Verona LLC since February 2018, according to Sarasota County Clerk of Court records, and operates the facility under 200 Venice Operating LLC, according to the Florida Division of Corporations .
He is listed as the owner of at least two other senior living facilities: The Pavilion of East Tampa at 2425 E. Hanna Ave., Tampa; and The New Port Richey Pavilion, 5539 Charles Street, New Port Richey.
Here’s what we know about the allegations
Venice Police Detective Courtney Zak responded to a December 5, 2022 complaint filed by Edward Louis Johnson regarding an unidentified person residing in room 109 of the memory care unit between February 2022 and December 5, 2022, when that person was transferred from the facility, according to police.
Johnson complained of mold, unsanitary conditions and conflicting reports about his relative’s fall at the facility. First, he was told that there were no witnesses to the fall. He was later told the fall occurred when staff attempted to move the relative.
On December 5, Venice code enforcement officers reported finding suspected black mold, leaky vents and a clogged toilet.
A Dec. 6 inspection by the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County found a small amount of mold in the building, urine in hallways, dirty floors and other violations, documents provided by police showed.
Problems were also found in Room 109, similar to those documented in a September 2019 complaint, when the facility was fined by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.
Complaints from AHCA, the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Florida Long Term Care Ombudsman program, as well as those made by Venice firefighters and paramedics who responded to calls for service at the facility, and Venice Code Enforcement all contributed to the charges, police said.
In a Jan. 18, 2024, incident report, Det. Matthew Digiacomo, who was conducting a well-being check on an individual at the facility, said he spoke to a partially paralyzed resident in a power wheelchair who needed assistance.
The individual lived in a room on the third floor, Digiacomo wrote, adding that on several occasions the individual “stated that the elevator was inoperative, which led him to spend several days in his room.”
In other cases, the wheelchair-bound individual told the detective that it was impossible to get helpers to help him go to the bathroom, including one instance where he was stuck for three hours waiting for staff to help him.
An email from the Venice Fire Department documented an elevator failure as recently as July 3, and interviews conducted with several former employees documented Feuerman’s lack of response to multiple complaints.
Why did the investigation take so long?
Venice Police Capt. Eric Hill said individual events do not necessarily trigger the threshold for facing criminal charges.
“The circumstances we are dealing with in this case are an accumulation of documented incidents over time,” Hill said. “Now, at this point, we can say that the limit has been reached.
“We have been monitoring, documenting and working with our regulatory partners as well. They also have other investigations that have been opened.”
The lack of fixes for the problems was also an issue with the charges, Hill said.
What’s next in the case?
Feuerman is scheduled to appear before Circuit Court Judge Donna Padar on August 9.
If the State Attorney’s Office decides to prosecute the case, the crime is punishable by up to five years in prison, five years of probation and fines of up to $5,000.
Hill encouraged people to report similar issues if they experience them elsewhere.
“Be aware that this is not always as isolated as you might think,” Hill said. “If you are aware of or suspect elder abuse or neglect, please contact the Venice Police Department and/or you can always report it to the state abuse hotline at 1-800-96- ABUSE (1-800 -962-2873).”
This article originally appeared in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice nursing home owner accused of elder abuse
