San Diego City Administration is investigating a complaint that city crews threw a tent with a homeless person inside it in the back of a garbage truck during an abatement.
Had the homeless individual not screamed and kicked, it's possible he could have been crushed with the rest of the trash.
The city is calling its investigation a fact-finding process, officially, as the incident falls under employee rules of conduct and not a criminal investigation.
But make no mistake about it; the homeless community takes this just as serious.
For over a year now homeless advocate Michael McConnell has been recording and posting online videos and photos of police and city crews removing the encampments from East Village streets.
"You can't get people out of homelessness treating them like dirt," McConnell said.
McConnell blames what he calls the city's failed attempt at dealing with problems associated with a growing homeless population downtown.
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"I was just speechless how this could have happened," McConnell said.
The city is not confirming the details of the reported incident.
"This was a terrible incident and all involved were shaken by what occurred. Based on initial accounts, City staff and the City's abatement contractor tried to follow up with the individual but the person immediately left the scene and couldn't be located,“ Deputy Chief Operating Officer Paz Gomez said.
The incident leaves some homeless people frightened about going to sleep at night.
"It's like we're a different class of people that don't have any legal rights,” homeless man William Norman said.
After 20 years on and off the streets, Norman said someone being thrown in a garbage truck with his tent, while shocking, is one of a number of atrocities affecting the homeless.
"Out here on the streets, crazy things happen every day and nobody pays attention to it," Norman said.
This incident is getting the full attention of homeless advocates.
McConnell isn't pointing the finger at any one person on that work detail, but at the whole system of homeless abatement.
"The fault lies with how we view people experiencing homelessness and poverty on our streets," McConnell said.
The city shared with NBC 7 some of the specifics of the fact-finding process.
Most notable, fact findings aren't generally required in instances where a supervisor has direct knowledge of inappropriate behavior.
Also, changes the city might pursue based on the results of a fact finding are public but the actual report will not be released.
Expect the inquiry to finish in the next few weeks.
