Homeless LA Paraplegic "Dumped" on Skid Row
In an act that shocked even seasoned police officers, a local Los Angeles hospital allegedly “dumped” a homeless paraplegic man on a sidewalk on Skid Row. Police said the man, who was dragging a broken colostomy bag behind him, was dumped on the sidewalk Thursday in one of the worst parts of the city by the driver of a hospital van. The area is the same location where city officials say hospitals have dumped the homeless before.
Witnesses who said they saw the incident last week wrote down a phone number on the van and took down its license-plate number, which helped detectives connect the vehicle to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, reports local media.
Police said the incident was a case of "homeless dumping" and were questioning officials from the hospital.
The case comes three months after the L.A. city attorney's office filed its first indictment for homeless dumping against Kaiser Permanente for an incident earlier last year. In that case, a 63-year-old patient from the hospital's Bellflower Medical Center was videotaped wandering the streets of Skid Row in a hospital gown and socks. Kaiser has said it has taken steps to see that no more of its patients are left on Skid Row.