Las Vegas woman charged with elder abuse in illegal group home
A Las Vegas woman is accused of operating an illegal group home with eight residents sharing a two-bedroom home in the central valley, according to an arrest report released Thursday.
Luz Larock is charged with 14 counts of abuse and neglect of an elderly person, according to court records.
Clark County firefighters were called Feb. 8 to the home at 2781 Heritage Court, near McLeod Drive and East Sahara Avenue, after an elderly woman fell out of bed. When firefighters arrived, the woman said she had been yelling for help for hours. The Fire Department called the Metropolitan Police Department, which opened an investigation into the home.
According Larock’s arrest report, inspectors called the home a “nightmare” and said “everything is wrong,” regarding code enforcement.
Five of the eight residents were living in 8-by-5-foot cubicles that could barely fit walkers. One resident told police he has to “do a dance” to get in and out of his room.
The Clark County assessor’s database shows the 2,000-square-foot home has two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Investigators discovered all the food in the home was expired and that Larock was not registered to operate a group home. She told police she was getting referrals from ASAP Referral Service, which is operated by Larock’s husband and daughter.
One resident told police that between the time she left the hospital on Thanksgiving and the day police spoke to her on Feb. 16, no one had administered her blood pressure medication. Many residents were living in their waste, old food and garbage, police said.
The elderly residents were paying Larock between $600 and $900 monthly, but there was no registered caregiver for their advanced medical needs, investigators found.
Officers investigating Larock’s history discovered she was previously arrested for running an illegal group home, which was not named, out of the house she currently lives in.
In 2010, Larock pleaded guilty to one count of neglecting an elderly person and was sentenced to community service and two years of informal probation, according to District Court documents.
Larock was arrested March 2 and released with a bail condition that she not operate any group homes.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.
