Stratford Caregiver Charged With Cruelty

Stratford police have arrested a woman who left a 90-year-old bedridden client alone to purchase alcohol last fall.

Tara Brice, 38, was charged on a warrant with intentional cruelty to persons in connection with the incident. She posted $2,500 bond, and is scheduled to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court Aug. 14.

According to a report in the Connecticut Post, Brice was assigned by her then-employer, TASK Medical Staffing, to care for the elderly woman, who required around-the-clock attention in her home on Graham Street.

A relative came to the house to check on the woman, but discovered her alone in the house, which contained numerous cigarette butts and empty beer cans. Brice allegedly returned to the house shortly after the relative arrived, holding a paper bag full of liquor nips, the paper reported.

Judicial records indicate the incident took place Oct. 27, 2014.