A San Jose councilmember is under the spotlight after he allegedly hit a man on a bicycle and then paid him off.
A downtown city worker, who did not want to be identified, witnessed the alleged crash and captured it on video. She shared it with the San Jose Spotlight first.
It shows Councilman Arjun Batra at the scene of last Wednesday's alleged crash at San Fernando and Fourth streets.
The witness said she recognized Batra as the one out of his car, talking with the man and then handing over money, which turned out to be $40.
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A photo of the man's bike showed the rear wheel bent.
Batra denies hitting the man’s bike but said he did have a "close call" with him. Batra also admitted giving the man $40 after he claimed he was "down on his luck."
In a statement, Batra said, “I am at City Hall to work on my two top priorities: pedestrian and traffic safety, and homelessness. I am glad that I was able to personally help this man in some small way.”
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Read Batra's entire statement below.
Councilmember Batra has firmly denied the claims made in a recent article. Last Wednesday, while proceeding through an intersection on a greenlight, Councilmember Batra made a sudden stop to fortunately avoid making contact with a pedestrian that was dragging his bike against the red light. Batra waited for the man to walk his bike to the other side of the crosswalk before continuing with his turn. He pulled over to park at the first opportunity, as any responsible driver should. The man left his bike at the corner on the other side of the street before walking up to Batra by his car to reassure the councilmember and stated that he was fine. During the 5-minute heartfelt conversation, the man shared his background story as the councilmember listened to how he is currently homeless, and asked Batra if he could spare $40, which the councilmember gave before they both parted.
