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Hospital van dumped paraplegic on skid row, witnesses say

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 10, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Even on skid row, it was shocking: a paraplegic in a soiled gown sliding along the sidewalk with his hands, clutching a plastic bag with his belongings between his teeth.

Police said the man, who was dragging a broken colostomy bag, was dumped on the sidewalk Thursday in one of the worst parts of the city by the driver of a hospital van. It's an area where hospitals have dumped the homeless before, city officials say.

Witnesses, all homeless people, began shouting, "Where is his wheelchair? Where is his walker?" Detective Russ Long said Friday. They told officers the driver responded that the man defecated in the van and had to be removed.

"If there is an explanation it just eludes me at this point," Long said.

Witnesses told police a van from Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center pulled up to a tiny park at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, a side door opened and a man, dressed in a hospital gown and pants, began struggling to get out. The driver looked on.

"His pants fell around his ankles. He fell onto the curb with his legs dangling onto the street," Long said. "He reached down and grabbed his pants, pulled his legs onto the sidewalk. Witnesses said the van would have run over his legs if he hadn't done that."

Homeless people helped the disoriented man into the park. A police bicycle patrol arrived by chance within a minute and called an ambulance.

The 41-year-old man's name was not released, but he was wearing a bracelet from the hospital, Long said.

Dan Springer, a spokesman for the medical center, did not confirm or deny that the van carrying the man came from Hollywood Presbyterian.

"These are very serious allegations. If we determine a mistake of this magnitude was made, we will respond swiftly and appropriately," Springer said.

The man was taken to another hospital. Police did not disclose his condition.

City officials have accused more than a dozen hospitals of dumping patients and criminals on skid row. Hospitals have denied the allegations.

[Last modified February 10, 2007, 01:42:48]