Feces Flung At Man’s SUV Sparks Criticism Of LA Leaders

SHERMAN OAKS, CA — A man was arrested after he was accused of throwing a bag of feces at vehicle and defecating on the street in Sherman Oaks, according to media reports.

The arrest came two days after the man reportedly threw feces at an SUV owned by a Sherman Oaks business owner, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles. The incident was caught on video.

Paul Scrivano, owner of Blue Dog Beer Tavern, spoke out about the homeless crisis in Los Angeles and took aim at local leaders' response to the homelessness situation, the station reported.

"I can't blame these people [the homeless]. It's not that there's something wrong with them. They have mental issues. The fault lies squarely with the legislative process here in Los Angeles, which says basically they're not going to pass judgment on any bad behavior anymore," Scrivano told the station.

Read more from FOX 11 Los Angeles: Sherman Oaks homeless crisis: LAPD arrests man caught on video throwing bag of poop

Scrivano told the station that he sent videos of homeless people making threats to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who represents the 4th district where Sherman Oaks is located. He told FOX LA that her office asked him to stop sending material.

On Friday, Raman responded to these accusations on Twitter.

"The Fox News stories were about a business owner’s complaint that our office had told him to stop sending us photos of homelessness," she tweeted. "They didn’t mention the photo he sent was of an unconscious woman, angled to expose her genitals. Yes, we told him that was crossing a boundary."

Raman further commented on her response to homelessness in the 4th district.

"We work relentlessly every day to address homelessness, even though we don't have nearly enough of the services and housing resources in LA to meet the immense need," Raman said. "My office’s approach is about ending homelessness, not pushing people from block to block or in and out of jail."

The September results of the 2022 Homeless Count, conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, revealed that an estimated 69,144 people were experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County. The results were derived from a point-in-time count over three nights in February.

The new count offers a contrast to the results of the counts between 2018 and 2020, when the county saw a 25.9 percent increase and the city experienced a 32 percent increase.

84,000 permanent housing placements have been made over the past five years, Last year, the rehousing system made 21,213 placements, according to LAHSA.

“While it is too soon to know what this year’s count results will mean long-term, the numbers are suggesting there is a flattening of the curve that is driven by the necessary and effective economic programs that helped keep people in their homes throughout the pandemic,” said Kristina Dixon, Acting Co-Executive Director at LAHSA.