Burbank police accused of dumping homeless man outside LA councilmember's office
A Los Angeles City councilmember furiously criticized the Burbank Police Department after security video appeared to show two officers dumping a homeless man in front of his field office on Thursday.
"I am extremely livid today," Councilmember Paul Krekorian said.
After pulling up to the curb on Lankershim Boulevard near Weddington Street in North Hollywood, the officers uncuffed the man after he got out of the back seat. Then, the man dropped to his knees as the officers drove away. Krekorian said the man appeared to be having a mental health crisis.
"Without giving any aid to this person," he said. "Without determining if there was anyone who could provide services to this person. They dumped him in North Hollywood."
Krekorian's staff tracked down the man about seven hours after he was abandoned. He told them he was homeless and had a broken leg.
"To take somebody at this moment of maximum vulnerability — somebody seeking medical care, and dumping, literally dumping him on a sidewalk to fend for himself. It's a disgrace," Krekorian said.
Krekorian did not reveal the man's name but believed the man had been at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Burbank. Hospital staff said "multiple calls were made to police, including one from a hospital security guard seeking help for a person on a city sidewalk who appeared to be in distress."
The man was abandoned outside a building that houses Kaiser Permanente medical offices and Krekorian's office in North Hollywood.
"This is callous, cruel, inhumane and also fundamentally irresponsible," Krekorian said.
Krekorian said he is reaching out to local and state officials to see if legal action can be taken. He also wrote a letter to the Mayor of Burbank and plans to talk to him.
"We do not take this concern lightly, as the City of Burbank's foremost priority is to provide our unhoused residents with the support and resources necessary to transition from the streets into stable and secure living conditions," Burbank Mayor Nick Schultz stated.
After the video surfaced, the Burbank Police Department said their officers found the man after people reported a naked individual sitting at a bus stop outside of the hospital. When officers arrived, they found the man lucid and communicative and offered him clothing, according to the department.
The man refused to accept the clothing since he had his own and eventually got dressed after a brief conversation.
The officers offered to help him since he said he was homeless and was from the Sunland-Tujunga area. He told officers that he suffered the leg injury many years ago and left the hospital voluntarily. He also declined any medical service, according to the department.
The officers offered to drive him anywhere he wanted, and he eventually agreed to get dropped off at the Metro B (Red) Line in North Hollywood.
While heading over there,the man asked the officers to drop him off so he could get some coffee in the 5200 block of Lankershim Boulevard.
The department promised to investigate the incident.
