Texas manager threatened resident with a hammer

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed a lawsuit against a Fort Worth assisted living center, claiming its manager threatened residents with a hammer, withheld food and locked some of them out of the building at night.

Abbott says the alleged abuse took place at the Oasis Village assisted living facility, located in Fort Worth’s Polytechnic neighborhood. A district judge issued a temporary injunction against the owner of the facility, God’s Intercessory Prayer Warriors Ministries, Inc., and its manager, Bertha McCoy.

According to state inspectors from the Department of Aging and Disability Services, at least five residents at the facility have complained that McCoy abused them. Some residents said she took the mattresses from their beds and forced them to sleep on metal bed frames, as punishment for soiling their sheets. They also said she locked them out of the building overnight. State inspectors also found evidence that McCoy hit several residents and threatened some with a hammer.

Inspectors reportedly found a hammer in McCoy’s office during a recent visit.

The state has filed suit against Oasis Village with the facility facing a punishment of up to $10,000 per penalty.   All of the residents at the facility have been relocated.