VIDEO: Jogger caught trashing homeless man’s camp arrested

Oakland man

Oakland man in custody, as well-wishers
raise $10,000 for local rough sleeper

One-Minute Read

Mobile phone footage of the incident, which took place on Friday
evening beside Lake Merritt, in the heart of the city, was recorded
by local man John Harris.

Onlookers can be heard remonstrating with a
jogger as he rifles through a makeshift camp belonging to a
homeless man identified by locals as Greg “Drew” Markson, shoving
armfuls of clothing and bedding into in a bin.

When bystanders object, the shirtless runner
says he is “picking up the trash”.

Witnesses said the jogger also threw some of Drew’s
possessions into the lake. Floating debris can be seen in the video
clip.

The footage “set off a social media firestorm”, says local
paper The Mercury News. Many viewers connected the
jogger’s attitude towards the homeless to the wider phenomenon of
gentrification transforming the area.

The assailant was nicknamed “Jogger Joe” in
reference to “BBQ Becky”, the name given to the white Oakland woman
who attracted online ire in April when she was filmed calling the
police to a group of black people having a BBQ beside the same
lake.

Yesterday, “Jogger Joe” was identified as
31-year-old Henry Sintay, when he was arrested on suspicion of
robbery.

However, the arrest resulted from an incident
which took place on Saturday, the day after the filming of the
video.

Another local resident, Matt Nelson, had confronted Sintay at
the lake, where he was removing some of the debris, KTVU reports. When Sintay realised the
conversation was being recorded, he allegedly grabbed Nelson’s
mobile phone in a scuffle which the victim says left him with cuts
and bruises.

Meanwhile, well-wishers have raised more than
$10,000 (£7,500) for Drew, a longtime resident of the
park.

“Like the thousands of other people in the Bay Area
without homes, Drew is one of our neighbours,” organisers wrote on
the GoFundMe page. “We’re disgusted that someone
thought it was ok to treat Drew this way… It’s not ok to destroy
someone’s things just because they are homeless.”