PHOENIX — A man reportedly blamed his dead grandfather for the sexual assault of a fellow patient at a Phoenix nursing and rehabilitation center recently.
Phoenix police report that on June 30 they responded to a nursing facility near 40th Street and Chandler Boulevard for a reported assault.
Police say just after midnight an elderly patient went onto the courtyard in her wheelchair. Staff at the center allegedly told police that she often went to the patio to warm up.
When they checked on her they saw the suspect, Daniel Lee Yazzie, 57, in his wheelchair next to the victim, according to court records. The worker told police that she saw Yazzie's hand in the victim's pants.
When Yazzie, who is a double amputee, went by the witness he allegedly said, "he was sorry, and this would not happen again."
The victim, who is elderly and has Alzheimer's, gestured toward her genitals when she was asked what happened. She later reportedly said to police that she told Yazzie "No, don't do that."
When questioned by police, Yazzie allegedly told them that the "spirit of his deceased grandfather had entered his body and told him to touch the victim."
Yazzie is being held on a $250,000 bond for sexual assault, sexual abuse, and vulnerable adult abuse.
