Five arrested at East Peoria nursing home; police looking into death of 81-year-old

EAST PEORIA, Ill. -- Authorities on Sunday were investigating the death of an 81-year-old woman who lived at an East Peoria nursing home that had just been raided by police.

An autopsy showed East Peoria Gardens Healthcare Center resident Betty Saal died from brain trauma, "possibly due to a fall late last month," Tazewell County Coroner Dennis Conover said in a statement.

The coroner's office and East Peoria Police Department were conducting a death investigation, Conover said. Saal had lived in the home "for some time," he said.

Saal was discovered Saturday, one day after police raided the nursing home looking for workers and residents wanted on outstanding warrants.

Five people were arrested, with another arrest pending, police chief Edward Papis said in a statement. Seven others had warrants for offenses ranging from obstruction of justice to retail theft, but they were not arrested because the warrants came from agencies outside this region, Papis said.

"With all the information and intelligence gathered, further investigation is pending and more arrests may be forthcoming," he said.

Police, fire and rescue officials have taken nearly 150 calls since January about issues with home residents that included burglary, assault and battery and disorderly conduct, prompting Friday's sweep, Papis told the (Peoria) Journal Star.

"We were all appalled with what was going on there and we knew that we had to take action to get this thing resolved," Papis said.

East Peoria Gardens follows the proper procedures to admit residents and officials there were not aware of any outstanding warrants, the home's attorney, Meyer Magence, told the paper.

Facilities licensed under the Nursing Home Act must conduct background checks on all potential residents. Lists of those with criminal pasts go to the Illinois Department of Public Health, which contracts with psychiatrists and security specialists to create a criminal risk analysis that is forwarded to the local police department.

Police started getting criminal histories of residents at the facility in November, with most labeled "low risk," Papis said.

Nursing homes have to prove evidence of a current danger, not a past one, to permanently discharge someone, Magence said.

"If the police have information about particular residents who are deemed to be dangerous, it would strike me as being extremely helpful and important for the police to notify the nursing home administration of that fact ... so that the nursing home can issue a notice of involuntary discharge under the public health regulation," Magence said.