Man Allegedly Abused at Powder Springs Facility for the Mentally Ill

Top of the Line Residential Care & Development Inc. is an assisted living facility for mentally ill individuals in Powder Springs.

But instead of receiving care, one resident got two black eyes, a bruised left jaw, a large red mark on his left temple and a large deep tissue bruise on his left rib cage.

Now four employees are in trouble with the law, accused of using fists, elbows, belts and a baseball bat to restrain the resident against his will.

The alleged abuse started sometime between 11 a.m. Jan. 16 and 8 a.m. Jan. 17, when the resident became disorderly at a location in the 4700 block of Meadows Road, according to Cobb County criminal warrants.

One of the employees, Stephen Patrick Caldwell of Powder Springs, allegedly tackled the resident and physically restrained him after repeated requests from the resident to let him go.

Caldwell held the victim's face down on the floor, where he allegedly punched and elbowed the resident in the face and head several times, records show.

Another employee, John Edward Mitchell of Hiram, refused to help the resident up from the floor. In warrants, authorities wrote that Mitchell and Caldwell used one belt to tie the resident's hands behind his back and another belt to tie his feet "so that he could not move."

They are also accused of putting the resident in a van to take him to 4960 Brownsville Rd., the site of Top of the Line Residential Care, and holding the resident down on the seat.

Once at the assisted living facility, Mitchell and Caldwell allegedly took the resident to his room, removed his pants, placed him in a diaper and tied him down to the bed so that he could not get up until the next morning.

All of the alleged abuse happened under the watch of Top of the Line founder Edith Mae Page and co-owner Osvaldo Hernandez, both of Powder Springs, authorities said.

In fact, both of them are accused of participating in the abuse, records show.

According to warrants, as Caldwell and Mitchell tried to restrain the resident at the Meadows Road location, they called in Hernandez for assistance. Hernandez allegedly came into the room with an aluminum baseball bat that he used to hit the resident on his left side.

While the resident's hands were tied behind his back, Hernandez forced the resident to drink a Coke "to the point that (the) victim felt he was going to choke and not be able to breathe," authorities wrote in the warrant.

And it was Hernandez who drove the van from Meadows Road, where the abuse began, to Top of the Line, where the abuse continued.

Page allegedly helped Caldwell and Mitchell tie the resident down to the bed in "4-point restraints" using belts and two neck ties so that the resident could not get up until the next day.

Page, Caldwell and Mitchell were arrested Friday. Hernandez was arrested Saturday. All are out of jail on bond.

Caldwell, who was arrested on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony false imprisonment, was released Saturday on a $35,000 bond. 

Mitchell and Page, who each face a false imprisonment charge, were released Saturday after Mitchell posted $25,000 bond and Page posted $35,000 bond.

Hernandez, charged with false imprisonment, aggravated assault and simple battery, was released Monday on a $50,000 bond.