Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced that a nurse and nursing assistant have been charged for their respective roles in an alleged assault on an elderly resident at a rehabilitation center in Ocean County, New Jersey. Lisa L. Erikson, 56, of Manchester, New Jersey, was indicted by a state grand jury on September 9, 2025, on two counts of aggravated assault (2nd degree and 3rd degree), possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and neglect of an elderly or disabled adult (both 3rd degree), and assault on an institutionalized elderly person (4th degree). A certified nursing assistant (CNA), Joshua Benner, 34, of Brick, New Jersey, is charged in the same indictment with neglect of an elderly or disabled adult (3rd degree). According to documents filed in this case, on March 19, 2025, Erikson, a licensed practical nurse (LPN) working at Whiting Gardens Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Whiting, New Jersey, allegedly assaulted an elderly man with dementia, depression, and anxiety.
It is alleged that the victim engaged in destructive behavior by ripping a computer mouse and phone receiver by the cords. Then at around 8:00 p.m., the victim allegedly hit a nursing cart and proceeded to walk down the hallway away from the nurses’ station, still holding a phone and computer mouse. It is alleged that Erikson walked toward the victim and sprayed him at close range with her personal oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray, as he attempted to shield himself. She then sprayed him with her OC again before leaving him on the floor. He remained unattended for several minutes before he crawled to stand up and entered another resident’s room. It is alleged that Benner and Erikson then allegedly forcibly moved the victim from that room to his room, leaving him without aid until police and emergency medical services arrived at 8:53 p.m. The victim was then treated and transported to a hospital.