SEQUIM — Two people who ran a small care home for the elderly in Sequim have been arrested for investigation of manslaughter and criminal mistreatment following a lengthy probe into allegations of abuse and mismanagement.
The former owners and operators of Garden Grove Adult Family Care — Carolyn S. Hardwick, 48, and her husband, 33-year-old John K. Packer — were arrested Friday in Sequim, police announced Monday.
Each was booked into the Clallam County jail on three counts of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree criminal mistreatment.
The manslaughter allegations stem from the deaths of three elderly patients living at the care center in 2001 and 2002.
The mistreatment counts are based on “extensive” and “suspicious” bruising suffered by two patients in 2002, police said.
Formal charges will be filed this week, and Hardwick and Packer were to be released from jail on their own recognizance, according to the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Closed in 2002
The state Department of Social and Health Services closed Garden Grove in November 2002 because “there was evidence of patient abuse, neglect and financial exploitation,” according to statement Monday from the Sequim Police Department.
Officers began their investigation the following month.
“We focused on these five because the evidence we developed gave them the best charging opportunities,” Police Chief Robert Spinks said.
“There’s a potential that there are other victims, but I wouldn’t go into too much detail at this time.”
Hardwick was arrested Friday afternoon at her home on West Hemlock Street in Sequim. Packer turned himself in to police later that day.
