The Los Angeles City Council will ask California’s attorney general and local prosecutors to investigate after video emerged showing Burbank police officers leaving a homeless man on a sidewalk in North Hollywood.
Surveillance video released earlier this month by City Council President Paul Krekorian appears to show two officers rip a man off on June 6 outside Krekorian’s office on Lankershim Boulevard near Weddington Street in North Hollywood. In the footage, the officers untie the man and remove him from their patrol vehicle. He drops to his knees and presses his head against the concrete as they drive away.
Burbank police said officers tried to help the man and he refused medical treatment when it was offered. Krekorian said some of his staffers found the man about seven hours later, when he told them he was homeless and had a broken leg.
2nd Council District, City of Los Angeles
On Tuesday, the City Council voted to ask the Los Angeles City Attorney, the LA County District Attorney and the California Attorney General to investigate the incident. The motion passed by the council calls for “maximum appropriate legal action” against the city of Burbank and its police force.
It also requests that the City of Burbank – as well as its Mayor and City Council – provide the City of LA with its “policies on homelessness, the rehousing of unhoused individuals, and policy changes that will be implemented as a result of this incident.”
Mary Movsesyan, a spokeswoman for the city of Burbank, said in a statement that the city “welcomes any investigation” and was already conducting its own “rigorous internal” investigation.
“Since video footage does not always reflect the entire situation, the City of Burbank cautions against inflammatory rhetoric and hasty judgment without the benefit of the investigation results,” Movsesyan wrote in the statement.
The day after the incident, Krekorian held a press conference in which he criticized the officers’ handling of the man, describing their alleged actions as “heartless, cruel, inhumane and also fundamentally irresponsible.” He said the officers left the man “without providing any assistance” and “without determining if there was anyone who could provide services to this individual.”
“To take someone at this moment of maximum vulnerability – someone seeking medical care, and dump them, literally dump them on the sidewalk to fend for themselves. It’s a shame,” Krekorian told reporters.
Meanwhile, Burbank police said officers arrested the man and attempted to assist him. Officers found the man naked at a bus stop near Buena Vista Street and Alameda Avenue, just outside Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, the department said.
Patricia Aidem, spokeswoman for Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, said in a written statement that the hospital was “aware” of an incident that occurred the morning of June 6.
“We understand that several calls were made to police, including one from a hospital security guard seeking help for a person on the city sidewalk who appeared to be in distress,” Aidem said.
According to Burbank police, officers offered him clothes when they found him, but he said he had his own and got dressed.
“The subject stated he had a leg injury sustained many years ago, and officers learned he voluntarily left the hospital before officers arrived,” the department said in a statement, adding that the man refused medical care.
Burbank police said the man asked to be taken to a Metro Red Line station in North Hollywood, but on the way there he wanted to be let out so he could get coffee. The ministry also said in the statement that it would launch its own investigation.
“The Burbank Police Department is currently conducting an in-depth investigation into this incident, including the actions of the officers involved,” the statement said, adding that investigators will interview witnesses, review all available footage — including that from body cameras — and any other review ‘relevant evidence’.
“The Burbank Police Department remains committed to treating the unhoused community with compassion and respect, and thanks Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian for bringing this matter to our attention,” the statement said.
Krekorian said at the time that he had written a letter to the mayor of Burbank and planned to speak with him. He also said he was contacting local and state officials to see what legal action could be taken.
“We do not take this concern lightly as the City of Burbank’s top priority is to provide our unhoused residents with the support and resources needed to transition from the streets to stable and safe living conditions,” said Burbank Mayor Nick Schultz in a statement.
