March 29, 2010 Media Contact: Jenn Meale Phone: (850) 245-0150

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TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced a Duval County woman has been arrested on charges that she struck a disabled resident of a group home where she was previously employed. Arnetter Eugenia Rice, a former caregiver at Renault Group Home, turned herself in at the Duval County Jail this morning after learning that the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit had a warrant issued for her arrest.

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received information from the Department of Children and Families, Adult Protective Services alleging Rice, 50, used a metal footrest from a wheelchair to strike a developmentally disabled patient three times. Eyewitnesses reported the attack, and Rice was subsequently terminated from the facility.

Rice has been charged with one count of abuse of a disabled adult, a third-degree felony. If convicted, she could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The case will be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial District.