VIRGINIA BEACH -- For the first time, the City of Virginia Beach is talking about how a trash truck ran over a man sleeping on the beach.
Michael Knockett, who was homeless, died after being hit just after 8:00 a.m. on June 28.
The City concluded an internal investigation Monday, which found the truck driver, Heather Boyd, was not to blame for what Deputy City Attorney Christopher Boynton described in a letter to the Knockett family attorney as a "tragic accident."
In a rundown of events leading up to the incident, Boynton said Boyd ran over Knockett while making a sharp right turn, veering the truck away from its path to collect an abandoned cooler.
"... It appears that a lack of visibility from the driver's seat in the truck to the front right of the vehicle was the primary factor in causing this tragic accident," Boynton's account states.
Monday's letter to attorney Carl La Mondue says Boyd was not on her cell phone, never saw Knockett and did not feel the impact.
La Mondue said Boyd should have seen Knockett.
"He was sitting in a lounge chair, not a depressed area, a lounge chair with a bright blue blanket," La Mondue said.
The report says a witness told Boyd she had run over Knockett.
Boyd then called 911 and began CPR, but Knockett was dead.
Pastor Deshawn Tatem, who was raised by Knockett, says his family will go forward with a $25 million lawsuit.
"You cannot put an amount on a life," Tatem said. "But I believe it is necessary to strike some sort of blow to the city to cause them to realize you cannot continue to push people under the rug, cover things up and act like nothing happened."
Boynton's account states Knockett had a blood-alcohol level between 0.36 and 0.37 at the time of his death.
The Public Works department has made a number of changes to beach trash collection, including adding more mirrors on trucks and requiring a spotter in the sand for trucks as they turn. There also must now be two people in the truck of a cab.
A city spokesman declined to say whether Boyd will be allowed to drive trash trucks again. After the incident, she was reassigned to duties that did not involve driving.
