Atlanta woman, 94, charged with assualt

A 94-year-old resident of an Atlanta nursing home is fighting claims she assaulted a fellow resident with a telephone.

Her attorney, Robert Kaiden, confirmed Thursday that Atlanta police arrested Theodora Garreau Sunday at Westminster Commons, a nursing home at 560 St. Charles Ave., off Monroe Drive.

Police said Garreau threw a telephone at another elderly woman, Kaiden said. The reason for the alleged incident was not known, and Kaiden denied it even happened.

Officers initially cited Garreau with disorderly conduct but later upgraded the charge to simple battery, her attorney said.

Kaiden insisted Garreau, who weighs about 80 pounds and has arthritis, did not hurt the other woman. He plans to fight the charges and is considering a civil suit against the nursing home.

“They violated her patients’ bill of rights,” Kaiden said. “You’d think they would have some sort of standard operating procedure to handle this in a different way.”

The Atlanta Police Department’s public affairs division did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday night.

A woman who answered the phone at Westminster Commons said no one was available for comment.

Garreau is no longer staying at the nursing home, Kaiden said.