Last Thursday, 54-year-old Elizabeth Thorpe-Saffa, of Alexandria, was charged with two counts of neglect of an incapacitated adult, a class 1 misdemeanor, for failing to adequately care for two male patients at Sunrise Assisted Living facility on Duke Street. Thorpe-Saffa was employed at Sunrise on July 31, when police responded to a 911 call from a patient. Officers arrived and could not get a response to the after-hours call button or to repeated phone calls.
When the officers finally entered the facility through an unlocked door, they found staff, including the suspect, asleep inside. Police identified two victims, men aged 79 and 87.
Thorpe-Saffa turned herself in last week and was released on a summons. She no longer works at Sunrise.