A San Francisco man reached his limit with the homelessness crisis in the California city and pulled out a hose and sprayed a homeless woman after she refused to move.
Collier Gwin, the owner of the Foster Gwin Gallery on Montgomery Street in Jackson Square, said he “just snapped.”
“I said she needs psychiatric help,” Gwin said.
“You can tell, she’s pulling her hair, she’s screaming, she’s talking in tongues, you can’t understand anything she says, she’s throwing food everywhere.
“I’ve been down here 40 years.
“I’ve seen tons of homeless people, we’ve helped the ones that we could, and I have not had any issues with people.
“But in this case, I was very upset, that the city could not help, and their hands are tied too.
“I’m out there once again cleaning her mess.
“Washing it down, trying to clean up stuff, and I just snapped.
“I was watering around her, and I just snapped, when she off in her belligerent, tongues and stuff.
“And I just snapped and I pulled the hose up higher, and I sprayed her.
“When I look at myself on the film, I can’t even believe that that’s me.
“But, I didn’t know what else to do. It was getting so frustrating
“I feel awful, not just because I want to get out of trouble, or something like that, but because I’d put a tremendous amount of effort into helping this woman on the street.
“I’m very, very sorry, I’m not going to defend myself, I’m not going to, because I can’t defend that.”
WATCH:
Man sprays water on homeless woman who refused to leave the front of his store.
Don’t be mad at him. This is what happens when a city refuses to do anything about the homeless/drug addiction issue. pic.twitter.com/kOp634Gtui
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) January 11, 2023
Barbarossa Lounge, whose business could be seen in the background of the video, said:
“Barbarossa Lounge has been made aware of a video that has begun to circulate on social media, which was filmed outside of our small business.
“Barbarossa is in no way associated with the inhumane actions portrayed in the video.
“Upon investigation, it appears the actions are those of a neighboring business owner.
“We are extremely disappointed in this individual’s behavior and in no way support such actions.
“We have been informed that further formal and media investigation is underway.
“Barbarossa strives to support our local community and treat all passersby and patrons with equal respect and dignity.
“It’s very unfortunate that it happened in front of our small business.
“We’ve been struggling and hanging on by a thread, and now our reputation is being dragged through the mud for something that we didn’t do, for something that’s not even affiliated with us,” said co-owner Trena Hamidi.
“We don’t believe in the inhumane treatment of anyone – homeless or not.”
San Francisco man sprays a homeless person with a hose after she refuses to move from the sidewalk. pic.twitter.com/vnBmgJpwEJ
— Catch Up (@CatchUpNetwork) January 11, 2023
According to MSN:
Gwin has lived in San Francisco for 45 years.
He said this confrontation was the result of multiple attempts to get the woman help, after he spent days cleaning up her mess and letting her sleep in his doorway.
He added that she often knocks over trash cans, and her behavior has scared off his clients.
Gwin said he and other business owners in the area have called SFPD and social services more than two dozen times in the last two weeks.
