Arrest made after ‘Jogger Joe’ trashes Oakland homeless man’s belongings

Henry Sintay, popularly known as "Jogger Joe," was arrested on suspicion of robbery on Monday, June 11, 2018, after he was confronted for throwing away a homeless man's possessions in Oakland. Henry Sintay, popularly known as "Jogger Joe," was arrested on suspicion of robbery on Monday, June 11, 2018, after he was confronted for throwing away a homeless man's possessions in Oakland. Photo: Alameda County Sheriff's Office Photo: Alameda County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Arrest made after ‘Jogger Joe’ trashes Oakland homeless man’s belongings 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

A man who became known online as “Jogger Joe” after he was captured on video throwing away a homeless man’s belongings near Oakland’s Lake Merritt was in jail Tuesday after being accused of stealing a phone from a man who a day later confronted and filmed him.

Henry Sintay was arrested Monday on suspicion of first-degree robbery, court records show, and a source familiar with the case confirmed it was related to the Lake Merritt incident. Sintay, 31, was being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on $100,000 bail and was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Sintay was filmed Friday evening throwing away armfuls of clothing and other possessions of a homeless man named Drew who lived beside the lake, according to people who interacted with Drew and have sought to raise money for him this week. In the video, bystanders plead with Sintay to stop.

“It’s not yours,” one woman says. Sintay responds, “I’m picking up trash, what do you want me to do? ... If you want to help, help.”

Sintay was arrested in connection with a separate incident Saturday evening, court records show. Matt Nelson, a community organizer, observed Sintay pulling some of the homeless man’s belongings from the lake, and began streaming on Facebook Live with his phone.

In this video, laced with profanity, Sintay says he had cleaned up the homeless man’s things, but that some had fallen in the lake, prompting him to “try to get it out.” At one point, Sintay grabs the phone, tussles with Nelson on the ground, then runs off. Nelson said on Facebook that he sustained a mild concussion and some cuts and bruises.

The Friday incident caused an uproar on social media, in part because it came after another incident at Lake Merritt that went viral, in which a white woman called police on two black men, Kenzie Smith and Onsayo Abram, reporting that they were unlawfully grilling with charcoal.

Oakland City Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney condemned the dismantling of the homeless man’s makeshift camp.

“We’re all very concerned about an individual who presumably wanted to take it upon himself to disturb or dismantle a person camping in our public space and that’s just totally unacceptable,” McElhaney said. “Lake Merritt is an extremely robust space, from joggers to artists to people reading, but at the core of all that diversity of use there has to be mutual respect.”

Erin Stone is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: erin.stone@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erstone7