MAN FALLS. DIES. AIDE ALLEGEDLY SENDS PICTURES OF DEAD FACE TO OTHERS. THEN MOVES BODY.
BOYNTON BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — HarborChase Of Boynton Beach claims through its website that it celebrates senior living, but a lawsuit suggests that it actually celebrates — and attempts to coverup — death. The stunning complaint filed against the facility alleges that care is so poor in HarborChase that a man tried to get out of bed — fell to his death — and that an aide photographed or videotaped his lifeless face instead of making any effort to resuscitate him. Then several employees tried to make it appear that his death was not the result of a fall.
Rocco Romano, according to the complaint obtained by BocaNewsNow.com, was a resident of the HarborChase facility at 11801 South Military Trail in Boynton Beach. He began his stay in the facility in December of 2023. On June 26, 2024, Romano died. The following allegations are made in the complaint filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
>> Based upon multiple issues with the staff of the Defendant, HARBORCHASE, failing to properly and timely give ROMANO his prescribed medication, ROMANO’S surrogates set a up a “NANNY CAMERA” in his room to document the anticipated failures of the staff at the Defendant, HARBORCHASE. On or about the early morning hours of June 26, 2024, the “NANNY CAMERA”, at 3:29 a.m., depicted ROMANO checking his groin area and recognizing that he had urinated himself. He then attempted to get to the edge of the bed to go into the bathroom. His body was very weak, and it was extremely difficult for him to get to the edge of the bed.
Once at the edge of the bed, at 3:30 a.m., he barely got out the bed and was very wobbly. He attempted to go to the bathroom, but he fell backwards toward the wall and once he hit the wall, he slid down the wall so that he was sitting with his back to the wall. At 3:33 a.m., he attempted to get back into the bed. Over the next agonizing seven (7) minutes, ROMANO attempted to get back onto the bed. At times he had his entire body on the bed, but he did not have the strength to get his right leg onto the bed. With one last effort, he put his right hand on the tray table, which was next to the end table so that he could push off the tray table. However, the tray table was not stable, and any strength ROMANO had left to lift himself off the tray table was gone.
At 3:40 a.m., ROMANO fell to the floor. Over the next few minutes, he attempted to get his left hand on the bed, but that was all he could do. He lay on the floor breathing with heavy breath. Until approximately 3:46 a.m. there was no more breathing. ROCCO MICHAEL ROMANO was deceased.
It was not until approximately 4:51 a.m. a staff member came into the room. The staff member did not attempt to check his vitals. She merely pulled his collar of his shirt to lift up ROMANO’S head and then just looked at his face. The staff member was equipped with a staff radio; however, it seems she didn’t use the radio. Instead she pulled out her cellphone.
At 4:52 a.m., the staff member once again pulled up ROMANO’S head by his shirt collar and began taking either or both photographs, video-taping and/or utilizing FaceTime to video ROMANO’S face. This staff member then left the room.
It was not until 5:13 a.m. that a staff member came back to the room. This staff member came into the room, looked at ROMANO and then put gloves on to examine the body.
At 5:14 a.m., she spoke with someone via her staff radio.
At 5:14, the staff member attempted to move ROMANO’S body. She pulled his upper torso up so that his face was facing the bed. However, ROMANO’S dead body then began leaning towards the foot of the bed. The staff member took ROMANO’S dead body and laid his head at the foot of the bed.
When ROMANO died on the floor his head was at the head of the bed. This staff member had completely moved ROMANO’S dead body in the opposite direction.
At approximately 5:15 a.m., the staff member began cleaning up the room and took all the objects that had fallen off the tray table and the nightstand and began putting them in a plastic bag. The staff member then went to the tray table and nightstand and began taking some items off the tray table and the nightstand and putting them in the plastic bag. The Staff member then wiped down the tray table and the nightstand and moved items around on the nightstand.
At 5:17 a.m., the staff member then began taking objects off the floor and putting them into the plastic bag. The staff member then began wiping the area where ROMANO’s head was when he died. We would maintain there was possibly bodily fluids in that area. …It is clear that the purpose of the staff members to clean and prep the room was so that when fire rescue arrived, the scene in the room would not look like ROMANO had fallen. The staff had completely moved the body in the opposite direction so that they could clean up the room. The room was set up as if ROMANO had just died on the floor. <<
The lawsuit names Lotis Boynton ALF Operator LLC d/b/a HARBORCHASE of Boynton Beach as the defendant. Mr. Romano’s estate is represented by Attorney Patrick Lawlor of Lawlor and Associates in Boca Raton. No response had been filed by HarborChase as of Monday afternoon. Read the complete complaint here:
