State hires wanted man to run a nursing home in Pine Island

(ABC 6 News) – The State of Minnesota mistakenly hired a wanted man to run a Pine Island nursing home.

Thomas Zukowski, 62, was hired as the director of the Pine Haven Care Center’s assisted living campus with an active warrant for his arrest.

Court documents confirm the warrant was issued for Zukowksi because he violated the terms of his probation related to a 2022 DWI conviction in Bloomington, MN.

According to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Zukwski was arrested for that outstanding warrant on August 7th and released the next day.

ABC 6 News reached out to the Minnesota Department of Health to confirm Zukowski’s employment at Pine Haven and the circumstances surrounding his hire, his DWI, and his recent arrest.

The State of Minnesota took control of Pine Haven Care Center last year due to the facilities’ financial issues.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health confirmed Zukowski was hired at the facility and terminated after it became known there was an active warrant for his arrest. The spokesperson said the warrant didn’t show up on a background check conducted by the company hired by the State of Minnesota to manage the nursing home.

Court documents show Zukowski sentence on his DWI conviction was amended following his arrest on August 7th. He was ordered to serve 30 days in the Hennepin County workhouse and 30 days of electronic monitoring.