La. nursing home owner charged with felony cruelty in deadly Ida evacuations

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Bob Dean, the owner of seven Louisiana nursing homes that evacuated to a “nightmare” warehouse in Independence ahead of Hurricane Ida’s landfall, has been arrested by the state’s attorney general’s office.

A.G. Jeff Landry says Dean has been charged in Tangipahoa Parish with eight felony counts of cruelty to persons with infirmities, five felony counts of Medicaid fraud, and two felony counts of obstruction of justice.

Landry says Dean refused to move his residents out of the warehouse, which was described as horrific and inhumane and billed Medicaid for dates his residents were “not receiving proper care.” He’s also accused of engaging in conduct “intended to intimidate or obstruct public health officials and law enforcement,” when he refused state inspectors access to the facility while people were dying.

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Seven people crammed into the warehouse died.

Officials in Tangipahoa Parish said the facility was expecting 300 people but that number quickly grew to 800 people. State agencies were notified and attempted to inspect the facility but were turned away. The state then decided that the residents inside needed to be relocated to various other facilities across the state.

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