Details released surrounding homeless man’s death in Paso Robles
PASO ROBLES, Calif. - The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff-Coroner's Office released the report on a homeless man who died after being run over by a city truck back in September.
The report states that around 10:25 a.m. on September 19, 2019, a Paso Robles City Park employee was driving a city truck northbound slowly in the bicycle path under the 13 Street bridge. The employee was inspecting the irrigation (drip lines) system placed on the embankment adjacent to the bicycle path.
The employee said that as he drove under the bridge, he felt a "bump" under the left side of the truck (a Ford F250) and thought that he had just run over a rock.
Further down the bike path, the employee spotted a puddle of water and stepped out of the truck in order to inspect it.
When he returned to his car, the employee saw what looked to be a large bag lying on the path south of his vehicle. The worker walked toward the "bag" and saw that it was actually a man.
When the employee realized he may have run over the man, he called his supervisor who contacted the Paso Robles Police Department around 10:33 a.m.
Deputy Florentino was dispatched to the scene and saw that the man had a large bruise on his back. He then determined that the man may have been hit by the employee's truck and was dragged for about six feet due to wounds that are consistent with being dragged by a vehicle.
Drug paraphernalia was found near the homeless man and collected as evidence by officers.
The Coroner's report said that the death was determined to be an accident. The homeless man was determined to have died from multiple blunt force injuries.
