Rice Lake counseling center, employee
charged in restrained girl's death
BY KEVIN HARTER
November 30, 2006
Six months after Angellika "Angie"
Arndt died after being restrained at a Rice Lake, Wis., counseling
center, prosecutors filed negligence charges today against the
facility and one of its staff.
Northwest Counseling and Guidance
Clinic, the corporation which owns and operates the facility was
charged in Barron County Circuit Court with negligent abuse of a
resident, a felony. Staff member Bradley A. Ridout was charged with
negligent abuse of a patient causing bodily harm, a misdemeanor.
Ridout, 29, of Rice Lake, and
Northwest officials, could not be reached for comment.
Angie died May 26, the day after
she was injured while being restrained at the Rice Lake center,
according to court documents. The girl, who had attended the
clinic's day treatment center five days a week for a month for
behavioral problems, had been restrained on nine separate occasions,
according to a state investigative report.
The Hennepin County medical
examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by "complications of
chest compression asphyxiation" leading to "cardiopulmonary arrest
while restrained by another person."
A criminal investigation was
launched into Angie's death by Rice Lake police, Barron County
prosecutors and the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Assistant Attorney General William
E. Hanrahan filed the charge against the company while the Barron
County District Attorney Angela L. Holmstrom filed the misdemeanor
charge against Ridout.
The corporation faces up to a
$100,000 fine if convicted and Ridout a $10,000 fine and nine months
in jail.
Corporate officials, including
Northwest Counseling's board of directors, and Ridout are scheduled
to make their first court appearance at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Kevin Harter can be reached at
kharter@pioneerpress.com or 800-950-9080, ext. 2149.
Pick up Friday's Pioneer Press for
more details on this developing story.
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