Carroll man charged with assaulting his grandmother
A Carroll Township man is accused of shoving his grandmother last week, causing her to fall and break her hip, and then allowing her to lie in pain for more than an hour before requesting an ambulance to take her for treatment.
Carroll police arrested Richard M. Burella Jr., 34, of 5 Cemetery Road, Friday. They also accused him of sitting in the victim’s nearby wheelchair and refusing to help her after she fell backward onto the kitchen floor two days earlier, court records show.
Marsue Haney called police Jan. 14 to report her 82-year-old mother, Helene Vayansky, had been assaulted by Burella, who lived with his grandmother, police stated in the affidavit.
Mon Valley Hospital called protective services at Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services in Charleroi to report the assault after Vayansky was admitted there for treatment and told staff members about how she was injured, the court record states.
Police interviewed Vayansky Jan. 14, and she said Burella pushed her after becoming angry about the laundry.
She said she knew immediately upon falling that she was injured, but that her grandson would not help her and waited at least 1 ½ hours before calling Washington County 911.
“Helene said that Richard kept telling her that she was just faking it and that she was not injured,” Carroll police Chief Paul Brand noted in the affidavit.
Burella is charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, simple assault and harassment.
He is in Washington County jail on $50,000 bond set by District Judge Mark Wilson.