Officer at SC hospital destroyed patient’s food & dumped property in toilet, cops say
A Columbia man who worked at a state-run hospital was arrested on multiple charges following an incident that involved a patient who was called a vulnerable adult, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
On Dec. 23, 38-year-old Brandon Oneil Stewart was charged with neglect of a vulnerable adult and malicious injury to personal property, SLED said Monday in a news release.
The incidents that led to the charges happened over the summer at the WellPath Recovery Solutions facility at 4546 Broad River Road, according to SLED. That’s the South Carolina Sexually Violent Predator Treatment Program, according to WellPath’s website.
Patients at the facility receive “sex offender specific treatment,” and “comprehensive psychological, psychiatric, medical, dental, recreational and educational services,” WellPath officials said on the website.
The first incident involving Stewart and the patient happened June 25, according to an arrest warrant. Stewart was working as a custody officer at the facility when he took the resident’s property (valued at $2,000 or less) and put it in a toilet, where it was destroyed, SLED said in the arrest warrant.
A month later, on July 16, Stewart was involved in another incident with the vulnerable adult, according to the arrest warrant. Stewart destroyed “the victim’s food tray by throwing it on the floor, stepping on it, then throwing food items at a door. (Stewart) also destroyed the victim’s replacement meal by throwing it on the floor and then into the trash,” the arrest warrant said.
Stewart was booked into Richland County’s Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, according to the release. He’s not currently listed on the jail’s inmate roster, but information about any bond was not available.
SLED said Stewart was a former custody officer with WellPath, but there was no word if he was fired or if he resigned.
Stewart will be prosecuted by the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
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This story was originally published December 31, 2024 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Officer at SC hospital destroyed patient’s food & dumped property in toilet, cops say."
