After jogger tosses homeless man's belongings, Oakland residents reach out and a new video emerges

A video shows a jogger dismantling a homeless man's encampment at Lake Merritt and some of the witnesses say he threw some of the items into the lake. A video shows a jogger dismantling a homeless man's encampment at Lake Merritt and some of the witnesses say he threw some of the items into the lake. Photo: Screenshot Via JJ Harris Photo: Screenshot Via JJ Harris Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close After jogger tosses homeless man's belongings, Oakland residents reach out and a new video emerges 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

Oakland, Calif., residents were reaching out to help a Lake Merritt homeless man after his belongings were destroyed by a jogger Friday. A new video also emerged of another incident, apparently involving the same man, near the same homeless encampment Saturday.

Video of a jogger throwing a homeless man's belongings into the trash, with more of his belongings floating in nearby Lake Merritt, went viral this weekend. Since the incident, Oakland residents Kenzie Smith and JJ Harris — who recorded the videos — have tried to track down the homeless man whose belongings were destroyed.

"With me and my situation arrived with BBQ Becky, I vowed to City Hall that I would not have another BBQ Becky," Smith said, referencing the racial incident at Lake Merritt that involved Smith and friend Onsayo Abrams in May. "When [Harris'] video broke, I was outside at the lake, I found Drew and I talked to him, gave him food and water. I went back out that night to make sure no one messed with him again."

Smith called on the community to donate items, and the homeless man was given clothing, groceries and blankets to replace some of the missing goods. Smith said Drew was smiling and talking, and said of the donations, "we just have such good community support."

By Sunday, Harris announced on social media people were looking for "a more permanent housing solution for Drew" and a GoFundMe was established in Drew's name.

"Since I posted the video, it's gotten a really positive response from the community," Harris said. "You know, the community is really stepping up to help this guy out....It's kind of reviving my hope in the goodness of the people in my community."

While the jogger's identity has not been confirmed, a Saturday livestream that showed a similar incident appeared to involve the same man.

At the start of a livestream, the man is seen climbing out of Lake Merritt next to a pile of items on the concrete, at the scene where Harris' viral video takes place. The man is asked if he's the one who threw the items into the lake and is now fishing them out, a charge which the man denies.

"He's been a resident here for a long time," the videographer says, referring to Drew, who did not appear to be in the area at the time.

"He has no place to have his stuff, so just leave him alone," a passerby says to the group. "He's not bothering anybody."

A short time later, the video jumps and the man seemingly attempts to grab the phone. "I just want to see if you're recording," he says. The phone continues to livestream as a scuffle is heard and the videographer yells, "I'm being attacked here!" and "help me!" The video then shows the phone being moved away from the scene before cutting off abruptly.

In subsequent updates, the Facebook user who posted the video says the man and an associate assaulted him "multiple times" and he was then "dragged by their moving vehicle and hit a few times in the head" during the encounter. The Facebook user says his phone is still missing and that he has since visited an emergency room.

SFGATE has reached out to the videographer and the Oakland Police Department, and will update the article should we hear back.

SFGATE editorial assistant Drew Costley contributed to this report.