Garbage truck hits, kills homeless man lying in San Jose driveway
By Carlos E. Castañeda
An unhoused man in the back alley of a San Jose strip mall died after being run over by a garbage truck early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The incident happened at approximately 4 a.m. Thursday on South Bascom Avenue between Curtner and Camden avenues. The San Jose Police Department said in a press release that officers responded to a report of a collision involving a garbage truck and a pedestrian.
The investigation found that a garbage truck headed west on Shamrock Drive from Bascom Avenue had turned into an alley and hit a man who was lying in the driveway and covered in blankets. The man was taken to a hospital where he died of his injuries, police said.
The driver of the garbage truck remained at the location and was cooperating with the investigation.
It was the city’s 29th fatal collision and 29th traffic death of 2025, along with the 14th pedestrian death of the year.
The Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner withheld the man’s identity until his family could be notified.
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to contact Detective DelliCarpini #4103 of the Police Department’s traffic investigations unit at 4103@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4654.
