A home health care nurse is accused of beating an elderly disabled veteran.

Police say Areatha Pickens, a licensed practical nurse, punched the 83-year-old Korean War veteran several times in his Coram home last week.

Detectives say the victim had notified Pickens’ employer that she was late for work.
     
The man, who became paraplegic in a 1975 motor vehicle crash and is confined to a stretcher, was treated at Stony Brook University Hospital for a fractured orbital bone.

Pickens, 44, of Coram, is charged with assault.