Criminal charges, firing spark protest at Fawn Personal Care Home

A worker at a personal care home in Fawn was arrested after, police say, he injured an elderly patient Sunday.

Luke Bondra, 43, of Arnold is charged with neglect of care of a dependent person, simple assault and harassment.

The charges stem from an incident at Fawn Personal Care Home, off Lardintown Road.

The charges, and Bondra’s firing by the care home’s owners, sparked a daylong protest by former employees of the care home.

The group of former employees, including former owner Shawn Lojak, protested Tuesday across the street from the facility. Between five and 10 people throughout the day marched and chanted “Fawn Care don’t care” and “We stand with Luke.”

“He’s been a professional, ethical caregiver,” former employee Kristie Milcic said. “Families love him. He is gentle. We know this incident did not happen the way it is being portrayed. We want to advocate for his innocence.”

State police said a 74-year-old man told investigators Bondra shoved him to the ground, causing him to hit his head and cut his arm.

The man left the care home and was picked up by a bystander, who took him to a hospital, according to police reports.

The man said he was fearful of the facility and did not want to go back to the “bully,” the complaint said.

Bondra told police he was attempting to give the man medication when the resident became upset and struck him with a walker, according to the criminal complaint.

Bondra said he grabbed and shoved the walker back toward the man, causing the fall, the complaint reads, and told investigators he did not check on him after he fell, nor did he check for injuries.

Bondra’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 20 before District Judge Carolyn Saldari Bengel.

Gerry Vaerewyck, co-owner of the care home, met with state Department of Human Services officials Tuesday. He said they came to inspect the facility in response to the incident.

“What happened Sunday was a tragic incident,” he said Tuesday. “We feel really bad that that happened. We took action right away.”

Bondra has been fired, Vaerewyck said. He was an aide there for a couple of years without prior incidents.

Vaerewyck said the injured man has left the home to stay with family members.

Lojak said he and his family sold the business to Vaerewyck and business partner Kim Fair last month for about $545,000.

Lojak claimed Tuesday that Fawn Personal Care has insufficient staffing, forged signatures of employees on medical records, restrained residents in bed and claimed the staff are not properly certified or trained, among other allegations.

“We didn’t know that ahead of time that they’d be like this,” Lojak said.

Vaerewyck said he has nine staffers serving 11 residents.

“They’re all completely false,” Vaerewyck said of the accusations. “Everyone’s certified. Everything is being done completely above board. Myself and my partner bought this because we’re passionate about this. I run businesses, and I’m used to making sure all the paperwork is on order. My partner is really into personal care. This place was going to shut down because it was being mismanaged.”

He said the former employees protesting all quit without giving notice, and the sale of the business was handled by Lojak’s brother because Lojak was fired in April.

Department of Human Services Licensing representative Cynthia Mulick inspected the facility Tuesday. She declined to talk with the media and deferred questions to Brent Sutherland, Human Services licensing director for the Southwest Regional office, who referred questions to the department’s communications office. A response to an email sent to the office was not immediately returned.