Woman charged with abuse talks to WDEF to clear her name
Brenda Hogan, 56, of Chattanooga was cited for misdemeanor assault and willful abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult.
According to the complaint affidavit, Hogan is accused of assaulting a mentally ill woman she was assigned to look over.
The incident reportedly happened at the clients home in the 7600 block of Boriss Drive.
At the time of the incident, Hogan was an employee of Prolex Medical Services; a company that provides nurses and other health care professionals to people who need assistance. Her title was disability technician.
According to the affidavit, an altercation began when the client and Hogan got into an argument over whether or not the blinds were open and whether or not the TV was off.
The client told police she thought Hogan was going to hit her so she threw kool-aid on her. The affidavit went on to say that Hogan retaliated by hitting the client in the the head with a wax candle. At some point, both women were reportedly tussling on the floor.
The Client called the Prolex office and another employee arrived at the house.
According to the affidavit, that employee met Hogan at the front door and told her to check out and go home.
Hogan was later fired from Prolex Medical Services.
After the story gained attention on social media, Hogan came to WDEF to tell her version of what took place.
She said she had endured a lot of verbal abuse by the client and that the abuse turned physical after the woman threw kool-aid in her face.
"I didn’t know if she was going to get a knife on me. I didn’t know really what she was was going to do because she is an aggressive person," Hogan told WDEF.
She went on to say that she was in a scenario where she felt she had to defend herself from the client so she she struck the woman.
Hogan said she and the client were tussling on the floor where the client was on top of her.
"And that’s how I got the bruises all over my chest because she was on top of me squeezing me," Hogan said.
Hogan provided WDEF with a picture of one of the bruises she sustained across her chest before lifting her shirt to reveal more bruises she said she received from the scuffle.
"I had to defend myself," Hogan said.
She said defending herself meant delivering blows back at the client whom she says was on top of her.
"I had to do what I could think of to get her off of me and I did pull her hair and I did kick her backwards."
WDEF spoke to personal injury attorney Gary Massey Jr. Massey has a track record of dealing with adult abuse cases. He told WDEF this is an example of how the line between self defense and abuse is distinct.
"If a person has been aggressive with you and you want to show them who’s boss and teach them not to do this again; striking an adult or disabled person to teach them a lesson is not self defense. If a disabled person is attacking you and threatening you with bodily harm, then you have to strike person or push that person to keep them from harming you. That would be self defense. It’s not just intent; it’s whether what you did is reasonable for the circumstances," Massey said.
WDEF also contacted Prolex Medical Services to ask about their policy when dealing with a client who may be combative. Prolex Medical Services declined to call back.
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