By Rachel Clun
A garbage truck driver has been charged with dangerous and negligent driving, after the death of a man in a Redfern laneway on Monday morning.
Police allege a 35-year-old man was driving a garbage truck along Bourke Lane about 8am when he drove onto the footpath, running over a homeless man who was sleeping on a mattress out the front of a home.
The driver called emergency services, and police arrived to find the man critically injured.
Despite the efforts of emergency services, the man died at the scene.
The garbage truck driver was taken to Sydney Eye Hospital for mandatory testing, before he was taken to Redfern police station and charged with dangerous driving occasioning death and negligent driving occasioning death.
The Rockdale man was granted bail and will appear in Downing Centre Local Court on June 18.
The man's licence was also suspended and confiscated.
Shortly after the incident on Monday, Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore said the man's death was "tragic".
"It’s an incredibly sad situation," she said.
The mayor said police were doing "absolutely everything" they could to identify the rough sleeper.
A police spokesman said detectives have not yet identified the man or his next of kin.