TRUMBULL, Conn. — A special needs student was attacked Tuesday by a worker employed by ICES, a Vocational Rehabilitation program that provides living services support for adults with disabilities, according to the Trumbull Police Department.
According to police, Andre Dickens, 53, of Waterbury, was arrested and is facing a charge of assault of a disabled/intellectually disabled person in the second degree. He worked for ICES as a direct support professional, police said.
ICES "immediately reported the incident" to police and the Dept. of Developmental Services and has placed Dickens and three others on unpaid administrative leave, the program told FOX61.
Officers were called at 3 p.m. to the school on 12 Cambridge Drive in Trumbull after receiving a complaint about a student who was assaulted, according to police.
Based on preliminary information, investigators learned that earlier in the morning, Dickens was sitting in a room across from a 41-year-old non-verbal student seated in a bean bag, when he went over to the student "unprovoked" and started to beat them with a metal cane, police said.
As the student tried to get away from Dickens, police said they were hit multiple times, leaving lacerations and facial injuries.
Dickens had told other staff members that he dropped the student off at Bridgeport Hospital after the student tripped and fell, which he said resulted in their injuries, police said. Dickens later said that he did not hit the student but chased them around with his cane.
Police said the information they obtained during their investigation, including video recordings of the incident, contradicted Dickens' claims.
"Nothing is more important to us than the safety, care and well-being of our residents and day program participants, and we are outraged that any of our employees would harm someone in our care," Chet Doheny, Executive Director and Chairman of ICES said in a statement. "This kind of behavior is unimaginable and goes against everything we stand for as a company in terms of our culture, values and the standard of care we provide each day to the people we serve."
Dickens is expected to appear at Bridgeport Superior Court on July 16.
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