Street Cleaner Runs Over, Kills Man Asleep in Alley

A transient napping in a garbage-strewn downtown alley was killed Monday when a Los Angeles city street cleaning vehicle ran over him in broad daylight.

The unidentified man was lying uncovered and apparently asleep at 3:30 p.m. in a narrow alley in the garment district near 8th Street between Broadway and Spring Street.

The victim was crushed when a skip loader rolled over the length of him, said Los Angeles Police Central Traffic Officer Neal Person.

The loader, which was equipped with four-foot-tall, 20-inch-wide tires, was backing into position next to a mound of refuse when it came upon a parked station wagon. To avoid the car, the driver of the loader was forced to steer next to the wall of a building against which the man lay.

The man, who authorities said appeared to be in his 40s, was fully clothed, with his sneakers placed by his side. He was lying on two small squares of cardboard in a section of alley where there was little trash.

The incident, which police termed an accident, occurred during a Department of Public Works effort to clean areas in and around Skid Row.

Through a street maintenance program, referred to as “the homeless detail,” police escort cleaning vehicles to areas where itinerants have been known to congregate. The officers roust transients who may not be aware of heavy machinery coming through; police also locate owners of cars parked in the way.

“These people who sleep in alleys--because they are lying next to piles of garbage--they aren’t real visible,” Person said. “The police go in, send them away and they come right back. This time, the escort and the driver just didn’t see the (man).”