Transient’s Death Prompts Change in City Work Rules
The Department of Public Works issued a report Wednesday that outlined procedural changes for the use of heavy-construction machinery in the Skid Row area, after the accidental death of a homeless man run over by a street sweeper in September.
An investigation found that police and city escorts did not warn the driver of a city skip loader that the victim, Michael Steriotti, was sleeping uncovered in the path of the sweeper, the report stated. A city worker told investigators that he passed by Steriotti but did not inform the driver of the skip loader “because he felt that it was the police officers’ job to clear the alley,” the report stated. The police escort told investigators he did not see Steriotti.
The revised policy included provisions to “inspect all bulky debris to ensure that it is debris only and that no transient is part of the debris.”
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