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NYC Sanitation Dept. Exonerates 'Street Sweeper'

Dept.'s Commissioner Tells CBS 2 City Employee Not At Fault; Dog's Owner Not Satisfied

NEW YORK (CBS) ― New York City's Sanitation Department says one of its street sweepers did nothing wrong when it swept a dog off the side of the road, killing it. CBS 2 spoke with the Department's commissioner on Thursday, along with the dog's owner who is still traumatized by the incident.

Imagine walking your dog on the side of the road when a street sweeper comes towards you, sucking your dog right off the street, ripping it from its leash.

When it happened to Robert Machin two weeks ago, he was beside himself with grief.

"That dog was a member of my family," said Machin.

Not only did he lose his dog, but he felt the sanitation department didn't care. There were no consequences for the driver, not even an apology for Machin's loss.

"It hurts terribly. They don't give it the attention they should," said Machin.

After repeated requests to interview the commissioner, CBS 2 caught up with him on Thursday.

"Well, we do care. We don't want to injure anyone but unfortunately in life accidents happen. We feel for the man and his dog," said Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty.

Doherty said the department did conduct an investigation which found the worker operating the street sweeper did nothing wrong.

"He was not speeding. He was not wearing headphones," the commissioner added.

But he refused to disclose the details of the investigatino and how exactly it was conducted.

CBS 2 showed Machin their conversation with the commissioner, but he wasn't very satisfied. Machin says no one from the department ever asked him or other witnesses what happened that day. He insists the driver was driving recklessly.

"They didn't investigate it properly. The investigaton should have been done right there and then...at the scene when everybody was there, not after the fact in the garage, behind closed doors," said Machin.

Machin has since hired a lawyer, and says he may sue.

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