Photo: Jogger Joe in action
OAKLAND — Somehow someone dubbed him “Jogger Joe.” He shows us how NOT to clean up a homeless camp.
Some robberies seem to count more than others. A man faces a second-degree robbery charge—but not for first stealing a homeless person’s belongings. Nobody doubts he did that.
Clothes in the lake
His alleged crime is stealing a bystander’s phone. The bystander recorded him stealing (taking and discarding) the homeless person’s belongings.
The suspect confessed to the phone robbery, according to the Oakland police. However, he wasn’t charged for robbing a homeless person. This is because a homeless person’s possessions are considered debris, rather than stolen property.
Following an investigation of the phone theft incident, authorities arrested 30-year-old Oakland resident Henry W. Sintay. However the suspect, after booking, is no longer in custody.
Sintay’s charge, filed on June 13, is second-degree robbery. He faces sentencing in state prison if a conviction results.
Sintay faces an accusation that he robbed the bystander’s phone on the evening of June 8. This incident occurred outside at the Lake Merritt Colonnade, near Grand Avenue. This is an area where homeless people frequently take shelter.
Someone also recorded Sintay’s subsequent actions following the non-validated robbery of the homeless person. This time a second bystander recorded him allegedly robbing the first bystander’s phone.
The recording of both incidents generated a social media buzz. The recordings show the suspect clearing out the homeless encampment, and later robbing the bystander who recorded him doing it.
Video clips show Sintay throwing the homeless person’s belongings into a trash bin, and larger items directly into Lake Merritt.
