Alleged Skid Row Dumping Is Captured on Videotape

The videotape, recorded Monday afternoon, shows a taxicab making a U-turn and then driving out of camera view. A few seconds later, Carol Ann Reyes appears from the direction of the cab, wandering for about three minutes in busy San Pedro Street and then on the sidewalk before a Union Rescue Mission staff member escorts her inside the nearby building.

Reyes' movements were recorded by "dumping cams" -- pan-tilt security cameras mounted outside the mission's entrance. They were installed last year after the Los Angeles Police Department accused hospitals and other law enforcement agencies of dumping people on the streets of skid row in downtown Los Angeles.

The mission has been sending tapes and written logs of alleged dumping incidents to the Los Angeles city attorney's office.

Reyes of Gardena was released Monday after being a patient at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center for three days, the hospital said. Capt. Andrew Smith of the LAPD's Central Division said that he believes the taxi took Reyes to skid row against her will.

Reyes said in an interview that she could not remember what happened when she left the hospital or how she got to skid row.

City Councilwoman Jan Perry, who showed reporters the video at a news conference, called the dumping of the woman "egregious."

"We will not tolerate standing idly by and allow our streets to be the dumping ground for other municipalities and other institutions who choose to deal with people who are homeless and disenfranchised by dumping them in skid row," Perry said.

Diana Bonta, vice president of public affairs for Kaiser Southern California, then stepped up to the microphone.

"I want to apologize to this patient," Bonta said. "Quality of care of patients is not just about taking care of them when they are in the hospital. But part of that is to be able to have a discharge that treats a patient with dignity and assures that their needs are taken care of."

The video, Bonta said, shows a practice that "is not in keeping with the policies of Kaiser Permanente